What is RTGS? How to Transfer Money Through RTGS

RTGS can be defined as funds transfer system to transfer the money from sender to beneficiary on continuous (real-time) and gross settlement basis. RTGS is used for high-value and time-sensitive transactions.

RTGS is an abbreviation for "Real Time Gross Settlement". RTGS can be defined as specialist funds transfer system to transfer the money from one bank to another on continuous (real-time) and gross settlement basis. It allows the individuals as well as the companies and the firms to transfer funds from one bank to another bank within the country.

'Real Time' means that the process of instructions is executed at the same time as soon as it is received rather than at some later time.

"Gross Settlement" means that the settlement of funds transfer instructions occurs individually (on an instruction by instruction basis).

For RTGS transaction, you need to fill up a form providing your or the beneficiary's details such as name, bank, branch, IFSC Code, a unique code for identifying the branch and the account number with account type. You have to attach a cheque while opting for this facility.

For RTGS transaction, you need to fill up a form providing your or the beneficiary's details such as name, bank, branch, IFSC Code, a unique code for identifying the branch and the account number with account type. You have to attach a cheque while opting for this facility.

RTGS Key Highlights

1. RTGS facility of money transfer is available only for domestic transactions among banks within India
2. Fund is transferred real time, within few minutes
3. RTGS is used for large value transactions
4. It can be offered only by RTGS enabled bank branches
5. Minimum Amount - Rs 2,00,000
6. Maximum Amount - No limit, however, banks may restrict the amount you can transfer in one day.
7. Transaction Charges -
   • For Rs 2 lakhs to Rs 5 lakhs: Not more than Rs 30/- per transaction
   • For anything above Rs 5 lakhs: Not more than Rs 55/- per transaction
8. Transaction Timings RTGS is available 24x7, 365 days with effect from December 14, 2020

What Happens When Funds Transferred through RTGS are not Credited to the Receiver's Account?

In case, for any reasons, the funds are not credited to the receiver's (beneficiary's) account, they will be returned to the originating bank within 1 hour or before the end of the transaction day.

RTGS Timings

RTGS is available 24x7, 365 days with effect from December 14, 2020. Earlier, RTGS transactions used to be available between 7 AM and 6 PM on all working days except for the second and fourth Saturday of the month and on Sundays.

RBI has regularised that RTGS transactions will have round the clock availability on all days of the year and hence the bank customers can transfer funds through RTGS around the clock on all days including holidays. Now India has become one of the very few countries globally with a 24x7x365 large value real time (RTGS) payment system. You can check out here the difference between NEFT and RTGS.

RTGS operations began on March 26, 2004 with just 4 banks. It presently (as on Dec, 2020) handles as many as 6.35 lakh transactions per day for a value of Rs 4.17 lakh crore across 237 participant banks, according to news agency PTI.

Channels to Initiate RTGS Fund Transfer

1. Internet Banking: You can transfer funds to the beneficiary from your desktop/ laptop using Internet Banking channel
2. Mobile Banking: You can send money to the beneficiary through your Mobile app
3. Branch Visit: You can visit the nearest branch of your Bank and fill the RTGS form to carry out an RTGS transaction

Process of RTGS Fund Transfer Online

The detailed process to make fund transfer through RTGS has been described below:

1. First of all, you need to visit the URL of your bank
2. Log on to internet banking section using your login credentials i.e. user id and password
3. Home screen of the section will appear
4. Choose option "Fund Transfer" under the "Payments and Transfer" tab
5. There will be 3 options for making fund transfer which are RTGS, NEFT and IMPS
6. Choose "RTGS" option
7. Select the name of beneficiary from the list of beneficiaries, to transfer the funds
8. Enter Amount to be transferred
9. Verify the entered details
10. Click on "Confirm"
11. A 4-digit OTP will be sent to your registered mobile number
12. Enter the OTP in the space provided
13. Click on the "Submit" button to initiate the transaction

If the beneficiary is not already added for fund transfer, add the beneficary first. and then proceed for fund transfer through RTGS.

Charges for RTGS Transactions

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has waived the processing charges levied by it for RTGS transactions, w.e.f. July 01, 2019. Now the banks may pass on this benefit to their customers.

The RBI has prescribed following limits on charges for RTGS Transactions that can be charged by the banks to execute any outward RTGS transaction:

• Rs.2 lakhs to Rs.5 lakhs: not exceeding Rs.25 (exclusive of tax, if any)
• Above Rs.5 lakhs: not exceeding Rs.50 (exclusive of tax, if any)

Inward RTGS transactions will be completely free and not charge wll be levied.

In view of this, most of the banks have made RTGS transactions done online free. However, there are some nominal charges for RTGS done from bank branches.

How to Transfer Funds through RTGS?

1. For transferring funds through RTGS, you must have the net banking facility enabled in your bank account.
2. Login to your account through net banking using login id and password
3. You need to add a beneficiary to your account, if not yet added, before transferring the funds to his account.
4. You need to enter the beneficiary's details such as full name, account number IFSC code, bank name, branch and city as per his bank account details in order to add beneficiary in your account.
5. After the beneficiary is added successfully, you will receive a message that beneficiary has been added to your account.
6. Now you can transfer the funds to the beneficiary's account.

How RTGS Works?