Mumbai, Dec 4 (UNI) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said that the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, used for large value transactions, will be made available round-the-clock 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. This will make the payment ecosystem more efficient” he added.
Currently, RTGS is available for customers from 7.00 am to 6.00 pm on all working days of a week, except second and fourth Saturdays of every month.
RTGS is meant for large-value instantaneous fund transfers, while NEFT is used for fund transfers of up to Rs 2 lakh. In December 2019, the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system was made available on a 24x7x365 basis. Earlier, from July 2019 RBI stopped levying charges on transactions through NEFT and with an aim to promote digital transactions in the country.
In order to expand adoption of digital payment in a safe and secure manner, he said, it has been 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. This will depend on 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 by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.
These are also well-suited to make payments in a safe and secure manner, especially during the current pandemic, it said, adding that 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. Operational instructions will be issued separately.