Bank update! RTGS will not work between these dates

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has notified that bank users will not be able to use the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) after the close of business hours on April 17, 2021, to 2 pm on Sunday, April 18, 2021. India’s Central Bank has cited technical upgrade of its RTGS facility as the reason behind this temporary shut down. 

In its official statement, the RBI said, “A technical upgrade of RTGS, targeted to enhance the resilience and to further improve the Disaster Recovery Time of the RTGS system, is scheduled after the close of business of April 17, 2021.” 

The RBI has also directed banks to inform their customers so that they can plan their payment operations accordingly. In the meanwhile, users can take advantage of the National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) service to facilitate their funds during this period. 

What’s the difference between RTGS and NEFT? 

Both RTGS and NEFT are digital payment modes offered by the bank to transfer money in a snap. However, there are some differences between the two. RTGS transactions deal with only large amounts of money. One can send funds above Rs 2 lakh via RTGs. There is no such limit with the NEFT service. 

In short, RTGS service is preferred for transferring large sums of money while NEFT is preferred when you have to transfer less than Rs 2 lakh. Also, keep in mind that users can transfer up to Rs 25 Lakh per day via NEFT transactions.