by NEFT, RTGS and IMPS are three ways to transfer money from one account to another. Each of the payment modes has some limitations in terms of timings, value or charges. Let’s understand the meaning of all three payment modes and see the differences between NEFT, RTGS and IMPS.
What is NEFT?
NEFT stands for National Electronic Funds Transfer where one-to-one money gets transferred. There is no limit of the transaction amount however the transfer is done in hourly batches which are based on Deferred Net Settlement (DNS).
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What is RTGS?
RTGS means Real Time Gross Transfer which is designed for large fund transfers where the settlements of funds are done on continuous basis on an order by order basis. Real time means as soon as the instructions of transfer are received and Gross Transfer means settlement of large value transactions happens individually.
What is IMPS?
IMPS stands for Immediate Payment Services which is available for 24×7 throughout the year including Sundays and Bank Holidays. Under IMPS the beneficiary amount gets credited instantly irrespective of any time slots. The maximum limit of IMPS transfer is ₹ 2 lakhs.
Transaction Limit
| IMPS | NEFT | RTGS | |
| Minimum Limit | ₹ 1 | No Limit | ₹ 2 lakhs |
| Maximum Limit | ₹ 2 lakh (Per transaction) | ₹ 50,000 (Per Transaction)* | No Limit |
*No maximum cap on the number of transactions per day.
Read Difference between RTGS, NEFT and IMPS
Changes in RTGS and NEFT Timings
From 1st June 2019 the RBI has extended the timings for fund transfer through RTGS as follows:
| RTGS and NEFT New Timings w.e.f. 1st June 2019 | ||
| Timings | NEFT | RTGS |
| Monday to Friday | 8:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. | 8:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. |
| Saturday | 8:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. | 8:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. |
Any transfer accepted after the scheduled time will be carried forward and settled on the next working day.
Further, Bank closes their counter for accepting the transfers 15 minutes before the above time limit as to feed the transactions in the system and to cope up with the upper time limit of RBI.
