RTGS Payment System To Be Available On 24X7 Basis Soon

The Reserve Bank of India said on Friday that the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, which is used for large value transactions, will be made available round-the-clock in the next few days. RTGS, which is meant for high-value instant fund transfers, is currently available on all working days of the week except the second and fourth Saturdays, between 7.00 am to 6.00 pm.

"The RTGS system will soon be made available 24x7 in the next few days... with this enablement, it is proposed to reduce settlement and default risk in the system by facilitating settlement of AePS, IMPS, NETC, NFS, RuPay, UPI transactions on all days of the week, instead of five days earlier." RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said. This will make the payment ecosystem more efficient, he added.

The RBI had, in December last year, made the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system available on a 24x7 basis. NEFT handles fund transfers up to Rs 2 lakh and these transactions are usually executed within a couple of hours.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to make digital payments safe, secure and widespread amid these pandemic times, the central bank has decided to enhance the limits for contactless card transactions and e-mandates for recurring transactions through cards and UPI from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 from January 1, 2021. The banking regulator had stopped levying charges on NEFT and RTGS transactions with effect from July 2019.