NEFT-INDIA
NEFT India RBI retail batch fund transfer 24/7 since 2019.
Definition
NEFT characteristics: (1) Batch settlement: payments aggregated into half-hourly batches, processed at Reserve Bank of India RBI NEFT Service Centre Mumbai. (2) 24/7/365 since December 2019 (previously operated only weekdays 08:00-19:00 + Saturday 08:00-13:00, declared 24/7 by RBI). (3) No transaction value limit (unlike IMPS Rs 5 lakh) - suitable large-value retail transfers. (4) Beneficiary credit: typically <2 hours but can vary (depends batch timing), unlike IMPS instant. (5) Routing: Beneficiary Account Number + IFSC code (11-character bank branch identifier, e.g., SBIN0000123 = State Bank of India branch 123). (6) Direct + indirect participants: ~250 direct + ~700 indirect banks + cooperative banks reaching NEFT 2024. (7) Charges: free for online transactions (online banking + UPI route), small fee for branch counter transactions (typically Rs 2.5-25 depending amount). (8) Notification messages: customer + beneficiary receive SMS upon credit. (9) NEFT vs IMPS vs RTGS vs UPI: NEFT batch (any amount, ~2 hours), IMPS instant (up to Rs 5 lakh), RTGS real-time gross (>Rs 2 lakh only), UPI built on IMPS for retail (up to Rs 1 lakh typical, daily limit Rs 1 lakh ; UPI Lite for low-value). (10) Use cases: salary payments (corporate batch payroll), supplier B2B payments, EMI loans + mortgages debits, rent + utility bills, tax payments etc.
Origin
NEFT launched November 2005 by RBI ; 24/7 declared December 2019 (previously business hours only) ; ~5B+ transactions 2024.
Example in context
Indian IT company submits salary disbursement file Friday: NEFT batch payroll file Rs 50 crore covering 5000 employees salaries submitted to corporate bank Friday 11:00 ; bank processes via NEFT to RBI ~11:30 batch, NEFT routes to ~50 employee banks across India in batch ~11:45 ; employees receive salary credit within ~2 hours batch settlement.
Related terms
- IMPS India — real-time alternative.
- RTGS India — high-value RTGS.