The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has urged banks not to charge their savings account holders for NEFT cash transfers made online starting January 1, 2020.
What is National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT)?
According to the ICICI Bank website, “The National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system is an electronic payment system that allows for direct one-to-one payments across the country. Using this service, you can electronically transfer funds from any bank branch to any individual who has an account with any other bank branch in the country that participates in the NEFT scheme. You can also use internet banking and mobile banking to make NEFT transfers.”
What is Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS)?
According to the RBI, “The acronym ‘RTGS’ stands for Real Time Gross Settlement, which can be explained as a system where there is continuous and real-time settlement of fund-transfers, individually on a transaction by transaction basis (without netting). ‘Real Time’ means the processing of instructions at the time they are received; ‘Gross Settlement’ means that the settlement of funds transfer instructions occurs individually. The RTGS system is primarily meant for large value transactions. The minimum amount to be remitted through RTGS is Rs 2,00,000/- with no upper or maximum ceilingNEFT is an electronic fund transfer system in which the transactions received up to a particular time are processed in batches. Contrary to this, in RTGS, the transactions are processed continuously on a transaction-by-transaction basis throughout the day.
Details required to do RTGS, NEFT
The Remitter has to provide the following details:
- Amount to be remitted
- Beneficiary Customer Account Number
- Name of the beneficiary bank
- Beneficiary Customer Account Name
- Sender to receiver information, if any
- Beneficiary Branch’s IFSC
- Sending Customer Mobile No/Email Id
- Purpose.
Banks charge for transactions completed at the branch level. Here are the charges for NEFT and RTGS transactions of SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Punjab National Bank (PNB). (Source: Bank websites; details as on April 17, 2024)
SBI charges for NEFT and RTGS
| NEFT | Branch Channel | Online Channel |
| Upto Rs 10,000 | Rs. 2.00+ GST | –NIL– |
| Upto Rs 10,001 to Rs. 1 lac | Rs. 4.00+ GST | |
| Above Rs. 1 lac upto Rs. 2 lac | Rs. 12.00+ GST | |
| Above Rs. 2 lac | Rs. 20.00+ GST | |
| RTGS | Branch Channel | Online Channel |
| Rs. 2 lac to Rs. 5 lac | Rs. 20.00+ GST | –NIL– |
ICICI Bank NEFT and RTGS charges
| NEFT Transaction Limits/Timing | 01.00 hours – 19.00 hours | 00.00 hours – 01.00 hours | 2nd & 4th Saturday, Sunday & Bank Holidays |
| and | |||
| 19.00 hours – 00.00 hours | |||
| Minimum | ₹ 1 | ₹ 1 | ₹ 1 |
| Maximum | ₹ 10 lakh or ₹ 1 crore (based on customer segment) | ₹ 2 Lakh | ₹ 2 Lakh |
| RTGS (Internet Banking) – Applicable for NRIs as well | |||
| 01:00 hours – 19:00 hours | 19:00 hours – 00:00 hours and 00:00 hours – 01:00 hours | 2nd and 4th Saturday, Sunday and Bank holidays | |
| Minimum | ₹ 2 lakh | ₹ 2 lakh | ₹ 2 lakh |
| Maximum | ₹ 10 lakh or Rs 1 crore (based on customer segment) | ₹ 10 Lakh or 50 Lakh(based on customer segment) | ₹ 10 Lakh or 50 Lakh(based on customer segment) |
HDFC Bank RTGS and NEFT charges
| Transaction charges for NEFT done through HDFC Bank branches | |
| Transaction Amount | Charges |
| (In Rupees) | |
| Upto Rs 1,00,000 | Rs 2 + Applicable GST |
| Above Rs 1,00,000 | Rs 10 + Applicable GST |
| All charges are subject to changes |
RTGS transactions done online are free w.e.f 1st Nov 2017.
Transaction charges for RTGS from HDFC Bank Branches – Rs 15 + Applicable GST
Kotak Mahindra Bank NEFT and RTGS charges
| NEFT (Per Transaction) | Upto 10,000: Rs. 2; 10,001 to 1,00,000: Rs.4; 1,00,001 to 2,00,000: |
| Rs.14; > 2,00,000: Rs. 24 | |
| RTGS (Per Transaction) | RTGS: 2,00,001 to 5,00,000: Rs. 20; > 5,00,000: Rs. 40 |
PNB RTGS and NEFT charges
| Particular | Slab | Charges # | |||
| Branch | Online | ||||
| CC/OD | Saving Account | Current Account (W.E.F 12.10.2023) | |||
| RTGS | Rs. 2 Lakh to Rs. 5 Lakh | Rs. 24.50 | Rs. 24.00 | Rs. 24.00 | NIL |
| Above Rs. 5 Lakh | Rs. 49.50 | Rs. 49.00 | Rs. 49.00 | ||
| NEFT | Up to Rs. 10000 | Rs. 2.25 | Rs. 1.75 | NIL | |
| Above Rs. 10000 to Rs. 1 Lakh | Rs. 4.75 | Rs. 4.25 | |||
| Above Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 2 lac | Rs. 14.75 | Rs. 14.25 | |||
| Above Rs. 2 Lakh | Rs. 24.75 | Rs. 24.25 | |||
| IMPS | Up to Rs. 1000 | NIL | NIL | NIL | |
| Above Rs. 1001 to Rs. 1 lakh | Rs. 6.00 | Rs. 5.00 | Rs. 5.00 | ||
| Above Rs. 1 lakh | Rs. 12.00 | Rs. 10.00 | Rs. 10.00 | ||
| # above charges are exclusive of applicable GST | |||||
