What is RTGS?

 Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) is one of the quickest electronic modes to transfer large sums of money. It is mostly used by corporate and retail account holders.  It allows account holders to send and receive a large sum without having to wait for clearance. RTGS is considered the fastest and most secure fund transfer facility in India.

There is a minimum cap of  ₹2,00,000 to make an RTGS payment. If you want to transfer any amount less than that, you should try other transfer modes such as NEFT or IMPS. Although RTGS facility is provided by almost every bank, not all branches are RTGS-enabled. If you are planning on making an RTGS fund transfer, it is always good to first check whether your branch offers it.

RTGS Charges

The RTGS charges for digital transactions have been waived off by the Reserve Bank of India

(RBI) to encourage more corporate customers to shift towards online banking services. However, there are some charges levied on RTGS transactions by your bank branch.

RTGS charges are divided into two slabs based on the amount transferred – The transactions between ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh and transactions above ₹5 lakh.

Transaction limitCharges (exclusive of GST)
 ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh₹25 – existing charges for branches ₹5   – internet banking charges
Above ₹5 lakh₹50 – existing charges for branches ₹10  – internet banking charges

What is RTGS Timing?

Service Hours – Earlier RBI had set some RTGS timing guidelines as a bank official is required to manage any RTGS transaction, even for the online processes of both debit and credit card. However, keeping in mind the need to encourage digital payments, RBI has informed that RTGS will be available 24*7 on all days of the year from December 2020.

Time Taken to Complete a transfer – RTGS transfers do not have any checking time which means the transfer happens within a few minutes. The maximum time the bank can take to credit the money in the beneficiary account is half an hour of receiving the fund transfer request and confirmation in the form of an SMS is sent out by the bank.

Sometimes the transfer fails due to different reasons like non-existent beneficiary accounts etc. In such a case, the amount will be credited back into the sender’s account either within 1 hour of the bank being notified about the failure or within the RTGS banking hours, whichever is earlier. If the money isn’t credited, contact your branch immediately.

Wrapping up

RTGS is a mode of money transfer that is best suited to businesses and corporations. The charges applicable on RTGS transfers are nominal and the money is credited within a few minutes. However, you need to make sure that your bank provides RTGS services on your account.

By Richard