“In order to give further impetus to digital retail payments, it has now been decided that member banks shall not levy any charges from their savings bank account holders for funds transfers done through NEFT system which are initiated online (viz. internet banking and/or mobile apps of the banks),” the RBI said in a notification issued this week.
The new rules will come into effect from 1 January, 2020.
NEFT charges:
Earlier in July, the apex bank had removed all charges it imposes on banks for processing of NEFT and RTGS transactions. The RBI had also asked banks to pass on the benefits to its customers as well after which some banks like SBI and ICICI Bank had made online NEFT transfers free.
India’s largest bank the State Bank of India (SBI) has not levying any transaction charges through IMPC, RTGS and NEFT for YONO, internet banking and mobile banking customers. Similarly, HDFC Bank imposes no charges on NEFT transactions.
According to an earlier RBI order, banks were not allowed to charge more than ₹2.50 for funds transfer upto ₹10,000, ₹5 for transfers between ₹10,001 to ₹1 lakh and ₹15 for transfers between ₹1 lakh and above and ₹25 for transfers beyond ₹2 lakh.
NEFT timings:
The RBI has now made NEFT transactions a round-the-clock process which works even during bank holidays. So now, you can transfer money 24×7 and across all 365 days of the year. Earlier, NEFT transfer timings were fixed from 8 am to 6:30 pm on bank working days.
