MUMBAI, July 13:
To promote cashless transactions, the Reserve Bank today slashed charges for electronic transfer of funds for smaller amounts of upto Rs 10,000.
From August 1, transfer of funds not over Rs 10,000 from one account to another account through National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system, will attract maximum charge of Rs 2.50 per transaction, RBI said in a notification.
The notification comes a month after the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee asking the RBI to work out a mechanism so that no fee is charged from customers for electronic fund transfers.
As per the existing fee structure, electronic transfer of fund up to Rs 1 lakh attracts a maximum charge of Rs 5 per transaction.
As per the notification, a new slab of payment upto Rs 10,000 has been included to promote small value transactions in cashless mode.
“It is desirable that the benefits accruing on account of increasing volume of transactions are passed on to the customers so as to incentivise greater use of the electronic payment system in place of cumbersome paper-based mechanism like cheques or demand drafts,” RBI said.
“It is also considered necessary to provide the large number of people being covered under the financial inclusion programmes affordable financial services through an efficient remittance mechanism like the NEFT,” it said.
However, charges for transfers beyond Rs 10,000 limit would remain unchanged, it said.
Charges for electronic transfer of fund beyond Rs 10,000 but less than Rs 1 lakh will be a maximum of Rs 5 per transaction.
At the same time, for electronic transfer of funds beyond Rs 1 lakh to less than Rs 2 lakh, RBI has retained maximum charges of Rs 15 per transaction.
Similarly, for transactions beyond Rs 2 lakh, the maximum charge will continue to be Rs 25 per transaction from August.
Service tax will be levied on the prescribed charges.
“It may be noted that the charges are the maximum that can be recovered by banks from their customers, if they so desire,” RBI said.
All member banks are advised to encourage customers to take advantage of this facility, it said.
“Further, it is considered necessary to provide the large number of people being covered under the financial inclusion programme with an efficient and affordable remittance mechanism like the NEFT,” RBI said.
Oriental Bank of Commerce is the first bank to have waived off all charges for electronic transactions up to Rs 1 lakh.
The Department of Financial Services is working on the implementation of an action plan to bring the country’s banking payment structure at par with global standards.
For outward transactions under RTGS mechanism, banks charge Rs 30 for electronic transfers of Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh and Rs 55 for amounts above Rs 5 lakh. (PTI)
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