This is now official.
The Reserve Bank of India has announced that NEFT fund transfer would be available 24*7 now, and will be free for all bank customers.
Here are three updates you should be aware of:
NEFT Now Available 24*7
During their Monetary Policy Review, RBI has declared that NEFT or National Electronic Funds Transfer would be now available 24*7, for all bank customers.
Currently, NEFT is only available between 8AM to 7PM for retail banking customers, on working days, and not available on Sundays, and 2nd and 4th Saturdays.
But now, bank customers can transfer funds anytime, anyday, 24*7.
In their statement, RBI said, “In order to facilitate smooth settlement of these transactions in the accounts of the banks maintained with RBI, it has been decided that the Reserve Bank will extend the collateralised liquidity support, which is currently available till 7.45 pm on NEFT working days, round the clock,”
Previously, RBI had announced that NEFT will be available 24*7 starting from December, 2019. Now, this announcement has been made official.
Hence, NEFT will now work just like IMPS, however, the difference between IMPS and NEFT will be the amount of money one can transfer.
While Rs 2 lakh is the maximum limit for IMPS money transfer, there is no limit for NEFT money transfer.
NEFT Is Free For All Customers, But, There Is A Catch
RBI has already made NEFT and RTGS free for all bank customers (we had reported this in June this year).
However, this waiver of charge needs to be passed on to the customers by the banks.
Banks can charge, from the customers, for compensating the expenses for carrying out NEFT.
Fund Transfer At Bank Branches Is Chargeable
In case a customer visits a bank branch, and then carry out a fund transfer via IMPS or NEFT or RTGS, then that transaction is chargeable, across all banks, even SBI.
We will keep you updated, as more details come in.