New RTGS Timings from 1st December
As per the Reserve Bank of India’s decision, RTGS will be made available round-the-clock from 1st December 2020. This is to boost digital transactions in the country.
Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) is a system to transfer money from one bank to any other bank usually for large amounts. RTGS transactions have no amount cap but the minimum amount through RTGS is Rs 2 lakh.
Earlier, RTGS was available from 7.00 am to 6.00 pm on all working days of a week, except second and fourth Saturdays of every month. Now Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das announced that in order to help domestic businesses make quick and easy payments, RTGS will be available round-the-clock from 1st December 2020. India will be among very few countries globally with a 24x7x365 large value RTGS system.”In December 2019, the RBI had made the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system available on a 24x7x365 basis and the system has been operating smoothly since then. Earlier for NEFT or RTGS there were charges levied by the banks which in July 2019 was stopped by RBI with an aim to promote digital transactions.
The Reserve Bank of India has mentioned that there will be 11 bank holidays in the month of December. However, the bank holidays vary in various states and not observed by all the banking companies. Banking holidays also depend on the festivals being observed in specific states or notification of specific occasions in those states. 25th December, Christmas is a holiday during which all the banks across the country will remain closed. With the banks having holidays for about 11 days in December, removing the time limit for RTGS transactions will help promote digital transactions in the country.
