RTGS service will be unavailable for 14 hours on Sunday: Here’s what you need to know

However, the RBI said that the National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) service will continue to be operational as usual during this period for transferring funds.

As technical upgrade of RBI’s #RTGS is scheduled after the close of business of April 17, 2021, #RTGS service will not be available from 00:00 hrs to 14.00 hrs on Sunday, April 18, 2021. #NEFT system will continue to be operational as usual during this period for #moneytransfers.

— ReserveBankOfIndia (@RBI) April 15, 2021

What is RTGS?

Real Time Gross Settlement or RTGS is a system where there is a continuous and real-time settlement of fund transfers, individually on a transaction by transaction basis (without netting).

It is primarily meant for large value transactions, so the minimum amount for making a transaction through RTGS is Rs 2 lakh while the maximum transaction varies from bank to bank.

The service is available on all days on a 24x7x365 basis and there is a real-time transfer of funds to the beneficiary account. It is available both online as well as in the branch.

What is NEFT?

National Electronic Funds Transfer or NEFT is a centralised payment system owned and operated by the RBI and provides near-real-time funds transfer to the beneficiary account.

The minimum amount for making a transaction through RTGS is Re 1 while the maximum transaction varies from bank to bank and currently, there are no charges to savings bank account customers for online NEFT transactions.

NEFT service presently operates in batches at half-hourly intervals throughout the day.