The Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system was made available round the clock on all days by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This will be in effect from 00:30 hours on December 14, 2020. At present, the RTGS is available for customers from 7.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. on all working days of a week, excluding the second and fourth Saturdays of every month.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das commented that the RTGS system will soon be made available 24×7 in the next few days. By implementing this it is expected to reduce settlement and default risk in the system by facilitating settlement of AePS, IMPS, NFS, RuPay, NETC and UPI. Earlier UPI transactions were only available 5 days in a week but this should be available all days of the week. The customers and inter-bank transactions shall avail RTGS round the clock. The only exclusion is except for the interval between ‘end-of-day’ and ‘start-of-day’ processes. These timings should be broadcasted through RTGS system. The legal framework RTGS shall continue to be governed by the RTGS System Regulations, 2013
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had also added that it has been decided to enhance the limits for contactless card transactions and e-mandates for recurring transactions through cards and UPI from ₹ 2,000 to ₹ 5,000 to expand adoption of digital payment safely and securely. The RBI is planning this to be in effect from January 1, 2021. As a pilot project in 2017 RBI implemented a community-led participatory approach through Centres for Financial Literacy (CFL) to deepen financial inclusion and protect customers by promoting financial literacy through selected banks and non-governmental organisations.
The National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system was made accessible on a 24x7x365 basis in December 2019. The NEFT is used for fund transfers of up to ₹ 2 lakh and RTGS is for large-value instantaneous fund transfers. The RBI is now proposed to expand the reach of the CFLs to every block in the country in a phased manner by March 2024. As of now, there are 100 blocks. RBI also stopped collecting charges on transactions through NEFT and RTGS from July 2019, to promote digital transactions in the country.
