Online fund transfers via NEFT and RTGS to cost less as charges are removed

• The Reserve Bank of India has removed the charges levied to process any online transaction through NEFT and RTGS system.
  
• The benefits of this will be passed on to the consumer from today onwards.
  

Starting today, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has removed charges levied on NEFT and RTGS transactions. And, the regulator expects banks to make it cheaper for customers to perform these transactions too.

“In order to provide an impetus to digital funds movement, it has been decided to do away with the charges levied by the Reserve Bank for transactions processed in the RTGS and NEFT systems. Banks will be required, in turn, to pass these benefits to their customers. Instructions to banks in this regard will be issued within a week,” RBI said in a statement.

The Reserve Bank levies minimum charges on banks for transactions routed through its RTGS and NEFT. Banks, in turn, levy charges on their customers.

The decision to scrap the fees levied on RTGS transaction comes weeks after RBI extended the timings for doing RTGS transaction.

Currently, the fee for transferring funds using RTGS varies according to the time. There is no fee between 8 am to 11 am. The fee for transfer of funds during 11 am to 1 pm is ₹2 whereas from 1 pm to 6 pm is ₹5. The fee for transaction after 6 pm is ₹10.

Previously, the RBI has also extended the time frame to do RTGS transaction to 6 pm from 4.30 pm in the evening.