RTGS is shortly available round the clock for customers

Today, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das in his bi-monthly monetary statement said, the RTGS system will soon be made available 24×7 in the next few days.  At present, real-time gross settlement (RTGS) is available for customers from 7.00 am to 6.00 pm on all working days of a week, except the second and fourth Saturdays of every month. From December 2019, the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system was made available to customers on a 24x7x365 basis.

With the introduction of RTGS system as 24×7 services, 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.”This will make the payment ecosystem more efficient, the Governor said.

The regulator also decided to enhance the limits for contactless card transactions and e-mandates for recurring transactions through cards and UPI from the existing Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 from January 1, 2021. However, this facility will depend on the mandate and discretion of customers, he said. Contactless card transactions and e-mandates on cards (and UPI) for recurring transactions have enhanced customer convenience in general while benefitting from increased use of technology, the statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies said. These are also well-suited to make payments in a safe and secure manner, especially during the current pandemic, it said, adding, the recent instructions on disablement of contactless feature on cards and empowering customers to control the limits on their cards have also brought in added safety for users.

The Centres for Financial Literacy (CFL) was initially introduced through select banks and NGOs as a pilot project in 2017 at 100 blocks.It is now proposed to expand the reach of the CFLs from 100 blocks currently to every block in the country in a phased manner by March 2024, the Governor said.