The Reserve Bank of India announced on Wednesday that the Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) will be operational 24x7, starting December 14, 2020. This comes within one year of operationalizing NEFT 24x7 by RBI.

"India will become one of the few countries in the world that will operate RTGS system round the clock throughout the year," the central bank said in a statement.

The announcement comes days after Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das announced the change in the recent MPC meeting.

RTGS system is primarily intended for high-value transactions. This happens in real-time. The minimum amount to be transferred via RTGS is 2 lakh with no maximum. In this transfer, the receiving bank is instructed to transfer funds immediately after the transaction, and the transfer is immediate.

As of July 2019, the RBI stopped charging transaction fees through NEFT and RTGS, with the aim of boosting digital transactions in the country.

RTGS, which began operations on March 26, 2004, with a seamless launch involving four banks, currently handles 6.35,000 EGP transactions per day valued at 4.17 crore at 237 participating banks.

The average size of the LBTR ticket in November 2020 was EGP 57.96 thousand, making it a great value payment system.

RTGS uses the ISO 20022 format, which is the best-in-class messaging standard for financial transactions. The positive credit check feature for payee accounts is also available in RTGS.

"The RTGS availability around the clock will provide greater flexibility for businesses to execute payments and allow additional settlement cycles to be introduced into additional payment systems. This can also be leveraged to boost Indian financial market operations and cross-border payments. "the RBI further stated.

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