Now, NEFT is available to you 24×7 on all 365 Days of the Year!

Last Updated : Dec. 7, 2019, 5:19 p.m.

With all the talks to strengthen the digital transactions across the country, the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) was still that one service that wasn’t available to the customers on all days of the year. But not anymore as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed all the banks to make the NEFT facility available to all customers on a 24×7 basis, on all 365 days, from December 16, 2019. The first settlement will take place after 00:30 hours on December 16, 2019 (Night of December 15, 2019).

For now, there is a certain time frame (8 AM to 7 PM) for all the NEFT transactions. You can only make the NEFT transactions to electronically transfer funds from one account to another within this time frame only. While RTGS is used for large-value immediate fund transfers,  NEFT is mainly used for transacting small amounts, up to INR 2 lakhs, from one bank account to another. The NEFT transactions are settled in hourly batches, but from December 16, 2019, it will be settled in a total of 48 half-hourly batches every day instead of 23-half hourly batches on weekdays, and on the first, third, and fifth Saturdays of the month.

Points to note from the recent announcement made by RBI with regards to the NEFT 24×7 facility

• The biggest of all is the availability of NEFT on a 24×7 basis on all 365 days of the year. Doesn’t matter if the bank is closed on alternate Saturdays or Public Holidays, you can do the NEFT at any time, on any day of the year.
• All the NEFT transactions done by the customers after the fixed banking hours are expected to go directly into ‘Straight Through Processing (STP)’ modes with which it will be automatically initiated by the banks.
• The RBI also directed all the member banks to keep adequate liquidity in the current account with the central bank at all times to ensure a smooth posting of NEFT batch settlements.
• Also, the existing discipline for crediting the beneficiary’s account or returning the transaction, which is considered to be within 2 hours of settlement of the respective batch, to the originating bank will be the same as before.
• All the member banks will ensure the successful confirmation message for all NEFT credits to the customers. Also, all the existing provisions of NEFT procedural guidelines will be the same for NEFT 24×7 transactions too.