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RBI Waives Charges On NEFT And RTGS Transactions

Instructions to banks in this regard will be issued within a week, RBI said.

A HDFC Bank Ltd. teller counts Indian 100 rupee banknotes at the company’s bank branch in Mumbai, India (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)  
A HDFC Bank Ltd. teller counts Indian 100 rupee banknotes at the company’s bank branch in Mumbai, India (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)  

The Reserve Bank of India has waived off charges it levies on the digital payment mechanisms.

“In order to provide an impetus to digital funds movement, it has been decided to do away with the charges levied by the Reserve Bank for transactions processed in the National Electronic Fund Transfer and Real Time Gross Settlement systems,” the regulator said today in its statement on developmental and regulatory policies.

The central bank said that banks are expected to pass on the benefits of the waiver to their customers. “Instructions to banks in this regard will be issued within a week,” RBI said.

Till now, the banking regulator had been levying charges between Rs 2-10 depending on the timing of an RTGS transaction on any given day. In case of NEFT transactions, the charges range between Rs 2.5 to Rs 25, depending on the size of the transaction.

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As part of its move towards improving the use of automated teller machines, the banking regulator also announced a new committee that will review the interchange fee that banks earn through them. The committee will be headed by the CEO of the Indian Banks’ Association and is expected to examine the entire gamut of ATM charges and fees.

The RBI said that this committee will submit its report within two months of its first meeting. The regulator will announced details regarding the scope of this committee’s work and its first meeting within a week, it said.