RBI announced 24 x 7 NEFT service

Thanks to the revolutionary Reserve Bank of India (RBI), transferring money has become a remarkably simple process through the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT).

This NEFT service is now available around the clock all year ( 24 x 7 x 365 days) and allows you to transfer money at any time.

Previously you can do the transaction in the given time between 8 am and 6:30 pm or during open bank days.

NEFT timings

The money transfers due to the NEFT service have been split between operating in half-hour batches. In this structure, the first batch is settled from 12:30 am right after midnight while the last batch ends at midnight. This structure is meant to be continuous all through.

Because the final NEFT settlement batch is finalized at midnight, it may be impossible to transfer money any time past 11:30 pm and will, therefore, be compelled to catch the next batch that starts after midnight.

Previously, NEFT services were only available on official banking days and hours. This limitation did not exclude other services like online money transfers. During banking hours, NEFT services were only available from 8 am to 7 pm. They were also available on the First and third Saturday as from 8 am to 1 pm.

The recommendation that is being put forward by RBI will increase the rate of the digital transaction in India. There was a previous limitation that was imposed by the IMPS of 2 lakh for online fund transfer. It, however, allowed the transfer of funds around the clock.

In a bid to ensure that banks promote better NEFT services, RBI has also asked them to ensure that they avail of the entire needed infrastructure.

With this amendment, NEFT transactions will automatically be processed by the bank through Straight Through Processing (STP). There are however, some rules that will remain. It will still apply that you can credit the account of the beneficiary or reverse transactions within a stipulated duration of two hours. On all the NEFT credits, a bank will be required to send a message of confirmation.

NEFT Charges

Some banks offer free NEFT online transfer services. These banks include ICICI, HDFC and the State Bank of India. It was in July that the RBI removed all the fund transfer fees that banks incurred in NEFT and RTGS. The RBI has also requested that the banks extend the favor to their clients. As from January 2020, the RBI has also proposed that customers who have savings bank accounts to be granted free online NEFT transactions.

NEFT limits

There is a maximum limit of 2 lakh on NEFT transfers, but there is no minimum limit. However, when transactions involve high values, RTGS is opted for. The limits for the NEFT are not the same in all the banks and are hinged on the type of customer under consideration. For instance, ICICI Bank has set a 10 lakh limit for the NEFT transfers. This is only applicable for some customers while to others; the limit is set at 25 lakh. Another example is the HDFC Bank that has set its transaction limit at 25 lakh for when it comes to online NEFT transactions. The SBI, on the other hand, operates at 10 lakh limit as regards retail customers.