What are the NEFT Transfer Timings?

• Do you have an urgent requirement to make payments at the last minute?
• Do you want to ensure that your fund is transferred on a near real time basis in a safe and secured manner?
• Are you looking for a digital payment gateway that allows you to transfer funds 24*7*365? and that too free of charge?

Whether it is your low ticket fund transfer with respect to utility bills or bulk payment to your staff or medical emergency bill or your home rent or a vacation spend, you can transfer your funds via the  NEFT , National Electronic Fund Transfer platform.

Introduced in November 2005 by the RBI, NEFT  allows retail customers across India to transfer funds electronically from one NEFT bank branch enabled account to either the same or any other bank within India. The NEFT service is available 24x7 ( with effect from Dec 16, 2019 as per RBI guidelines), everytime, everywhere, everyone.

NEFT transactions are settled on a near real time basis as they are carried out in batches of  30 minutes each, throughout the day. 

Therefore, the settlement of the first batch starts  at 12:30 am and the last batch ends at midnight. This is how the NEFT timing cycle functions 24*7.

Say for example: A customer requests for a transaction at  11am, for an amount of  

₹10,000, the transaction would be fulfilled within 30 minutes, ie. by 11.30.

Upon fulfilment, both the remitter and beneficiary would receive a confirmation via SMS or email on their registered credentials.

Let us understand the nuances of transfering funds via the NEFT platform.

• At the outset, it is a fairly simple process which begins by filling up the NEFt form which is available on your bank's official web portal.
• You need to fill in the following fields with correct information to avoid any errors with regards to wrong beneficiary account details or failed transfer due to incorrect information on behalf of the payee etc.
• There are 10 relevant fields to be filled up in the NEFT form such as:

1. Beneficiary’s name: 
2. Bank’s Name: The account holder’s name of the bank.
3. Branch: The physical location of the bank’s branch
4. Account type: savings/ salary/current account.
5. Account number
6. Branch IFSC
7. Amount to transfer to the beneficiary’s account.
8. Cheque number: Only for the remitter using NEFT via the bank's branch.
9. In case for NEFT via ATM, the payee needs to fill in the debit card details.
10. To initiate payment via ATM, the customer also requires the personal identification number (PIN

Upon fulfilment of  NEFT transfer, the sender's and receiver's banks would notify their remitter and beneficiary via an SMS alert notifying them about  the payment status.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

Q. What are NEFT clearing times?

As per the revised guidelines by the RBI, NEFT services via digital platforms are available 24*7*365 including Sundays and holidays. 

Against this backdrop, the settlement of the first transaction begins after 00:30 hours while the last transaction ends at 00:00 hours.

It is important to note that in case you decide to execute the transaction by visiting your bank branch, the NEFT transfer would get fulfilled on all days except Sundays and NEFT holiday list issued by the RBI.

Q. How long does NEFT take to reflect on the beneficiary's account?

The transactions are swift and is usually

credited to the beneficiary’s account or within 2 hours of settlement of the respective batch. Upon successful completion, both the payee and beneficiary will receive a confirmation on your registered mobile phone or email id.

Q. What is the minimum and maximum daily threshold amount that I can transfer via NEFT?

As per the RBI guidelines, there is no minimum daily  threshold fund limit; customers can transfer an amount as low as ₹1 per day.

Even with regards to the maximum threshold fund transfer limit, the RBI has not pegged any figure.

However, each bank as per their risk management framework has set maximum daily fund transfer limits.

Say for example: ICICI Bank allows NEFT transfers up to ₹10lakhs per day which can also be expanded to ₹25 lakh  per day, depending upon the customer profile.

SBI Bank has a ₹10 lakh limit for retail customers.

Q. What is the fee charged by banks for NEFT transactions at the branch?

As mentioned earlier, banks charge a nominal fee per NEFT transaction only if it is executed via a bank branch. Transactions initiated via a digital platform are free.

Depending upon the transfer amount, the fee varies from ₹2.50+GST to ₹25+GST.

 Fund transfer amount       NEFT fee 

Up to ₹10,000                ₹2.50 + GST

₹10,000 to ₹1 lakh         ₹5 + GST

₹1 lakh to  ₹2 lakh          ₹15 + GST

> ₹2 lakh                        ₹25 + GST

Q. Who all are eligible to avail NEFT services?

Any individual, firm or company can avail  NEFT services as long as they have an active account with NEFT-enabled bank

Q. What happens to NEFT transactions done after banking hours?

As per the RBI guidelines, any NEFT transactions carried out  after banking hours would be automated using ‘Straight Through Processing (STP)’ mode by the banks in order to speed up the processing time.

Q. What was the earlier timing schedule for NEFT transactions?

Prior to  December 2019, all NEFT transactions were settled between 8 am to 7 pm on weekdays. In the case of the first and third Saturdays, the settlement happened from 8 am to 1 pm.

No transactions were fulfilled on 2nd and 4th saturday, sunday and holidays declared as per the RBI list.

Q. What should I do if I face some issues or I have a few queries to resolve with regards to my NEFT fund transfer?

In such a scenario, you may contact your dedicated NEFT customer help desk, the coordinates of which would be mentioned on your bank's web portal.