RBI Removes Charges on RTGS and NEFT Transactions; Asks Banks to Pass on Benefits to Customers
Moneylife Digital Team 06 June 2019
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to do away with its charges levied on transactions processed in the real time gross settlement system (RTGS) and national electronic funds transfer (NEFT) systems. The Central bank has also asked banks to pass the benefits to their customers who use RTGS and NEFT for payment transactions.
 
In its statement on "Developmental and Regulatory Policies", RBI says, it levies minimum charges on banks for transactions routed through RTGS, which is used for large-value instantaneous fund transfers and NEFT for other payment transfers.
 
"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," it says.
 
At present, State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest state-run lender, charges Re1 to Rs5 for funds transfer through NEFT and Rs5 to Rs50 for transactions carried out via RTGS. For RTGS, the value is required to be Rs2 lakh and more.
 
For NEFT, RBI had stipulated maximum charge per transaction of Rs2.50 for up to Rs10,000, Rs5 for between Rs10,001 and Rs1 lakh, Rs15 for between Rs1 lakh and Rs2 lakh and Rs25 for transaction above Rs2 lakh, excluding tax, if any.

For RTGS transaction, RBI stipulated maximum charges per transaction of Rs25 for between Rs2 lakh and Rs5 lakh and Rs50 for transactions of over Rs5 lakh, excluding tax. All these charges are now removed by the central bank.

Committee to Review ATM Fee Structure
While the usage of automated teller machines (ATMs) is increasing there have been persistent demand to reduce charged levied on ATM transactions and fees. RBI says, it has decided to set up a Committee involving all stakeholders, under the chairmanship of the chief executive (CEO) of  Indian Banks' Association (IBA), to examine the entire gamut of ATM charges and fees. The Committee is expected to submit its recommendations within two months of its first meeting and composition and terms of reference of the Committee will be issued within a week, RBI says.
 
Comments
Aditya G
7 years ago
Five bucks to tranfer, say 10,000 bucks, is not a big deal. What's RBI smoking?

It's far better than wasting 20 minutes to drive to a branch, 10 minutes to write a cheque, 5 minutes to deposit it, 20 minutes to drive back. In that time, I could watch one episode of Game of Thrones AND do an RTGS transfer.

Ultimately, banks will have to seek ways to make money. It's a business as much as any other. I don't mind paying fees for good & essential services. Removing these charges will means banks will have to look elsewhere to make money and pay staff. I'm not sure if this is a good move on RBI. We're moving into the digital economy and the way to incentivise this is to dis-incentivise paper or increase paper charges. Hey, we need trees!
PRAMOD DAS
7 years ago
Incentives for a digital financial ecosystem
Free Helpline
Legal Credit
Feedback