Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS)

RTGS stands for Real Time Gross Settlement. It was introduced in the year 2004. It is also one of the Electronic fund transfer system, which facilitates a continuous and real-time settlement of fund transfers, individually on a transaction by transaction basis. Unlike NEFT, RTGS transfers the fund to the beneficiary account as soon as the originator releases the fund. ‘Real Time’ means the processing of instructions at the time they are received, whereas ‘Gross Settlement’ means the settlement of funds occurs individually.

Presently, more than 1,65,000 RTGS enabled bank branches in India are providing this services to their customer. Regional Rural Bank (RRBs) are also providing this service to the customer through their sponsor bank.

Further, You can use online mobile/internet banking for fund transfer through RTGS. Alternatively, you can also visit your bank branch for initiating RTGS funds transfer through branch/off-line mode.

How does the RTGS system work?

Step-1

You can use your Internet/Mobile banking facility offered by your bank for initiating online funds transfer request through RTGS. You have to clearly provide details of beneficiary such as,

• Name of the beneficiary
• Name of the bank branch where the beneficiary has an account
• IFSC of the beneficiary bank branch
• Account Number as mentioned in the Passbook given by bank
• Account type whether Savings account or Current account or Cash Credit, etc.

Step-2

Once a successful initiation is made, the originating bank sends the funds to the beneficiary bank with the payment information.

Step-3

Beneficiary bank verifies the correctness/existence of the payment information and credit the funds to the beneficiary account. Further, beneficiary bank sends the SMS confirmation to the beneficiary for the credit of the funds.

What are the advantages of RTGS over the other modes of funds transfer?

• It is a safe and secure system for funds transfer.
• RTGS system primarily meant for large value transactions.
• The minimum amount to be remitted through RTGS is ₹ 2,00,000/- with no upper or maximum ceiling.
• There is real time transfer of funds to the beneficiary account.
• With effective from 14^th December 2020, RTGS is available on round-the-clock basis i.e, 24x7x365.
• Unique Transaction Reference (UTR) number, a 22 character code, used to uniquely identify a transaction in RTGS system
• Also, the originating and the receiving banks send the SMS confirmation to their respective customer for the credits and debits.

What are the Charges for RTGS?

a) No charge for the Inward transactions

b) RBI prescribed Maximum charges which can be levied for outward transactions at originating bank

• Rs. 24.50 + GST – For transaction above Rs. 2.00 Lakhs up to Rs. 5.00 Lakhs
• Rs. 49.50 + GST – For transaction above Rs. 5.00 Lakhs

c) RBI advised the banks that they may decide to charge a lower rate but cannot charge more than the rates prescribed

What are the important points to note about RTGS?

• Firstly, you must ensure that the sending bank branch and the receiving bank branch are RTGS enabled
• Also, the originator should exercise extreme care in providing the essential information of beneficiary to execute the RTGS transaction
• Further, if wrong information is given, the funds will not be transferred to the beneficiary or wrongly transferred to wrong account mentioned
• If the amount is wrongly transferred to somewhere else immediate claim to be given to your bank branch for quick recovery of funds
• The beneficiary bank must credit the funds to beneficiary’s account within 30 minutes of receiving the funds transfer message
• Lastly, if any dispute rise on transaction customer can make use of UTR of the particular transaction for addressing the issue

How is RTGS different from National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT)?

NEFT is an Electronic Fund Transfer System in which the transactions are processed in batches. But, RTGS transactions are processed continuously on a transaction by transaction basis throughout the day.