Ans: National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) is a nation-wide centralised payment system owned and operated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The set of procedures to be followed by various stakeholders participating in the system is available on the RBI website under the following link: https://website.rbi.org.in/documents/87730/39711381/NEFTPROCEDURALJANUARY2024DBA95372B2454F9F8B767824B0B6E86F.pdf.

Ans: NEFT offers the following advantages for funds transfer or receipt:

• Round the clock availability on all days of the year.

• Near-real-time funds transfer to the beneficiary account and settlement in a secure manner.

• Pan-India coverage through large network of branches of all types of banks.

• The beneficiary need not visit a bank branch for depositing the paper instruments. Remitter can initiate the remittances from his / her home / place of work using internet banking, if his / her bank offers such service.

• Positive confirmation to the remitter by SMS / e-mail on credit to beneficiary account.

• Penal interest provision for delay in credit or return of transactions.

• No levy of charges by RBI from banks.

• No charges to savings bank account customers for online NEFT transactions.

• The transaction charges have been capped by RBI.

• Besides funds transfer, NEFT system can be used for a variety of transactions including payment of credit card dues to the card issuing banks, payment of loan EMI, inward foreign exchange remittances, etc.

• The transaction has legal backing.

• Available for one-way funds transfers from India to Nepal.

Ans: Following is the step-wise flow of NEFT transaction.

Step-1: An individual / firm / corporate willing to transfer funds through NEFT can use the internet / mobile banking facility offered by his / her bank for initiating online funds transfer request. The remitter has to provide details of beneficiary such as, name of the beneficiary, name of the bank branch where the beneficiary has an account, IFSC of the beneficiary bank branch, account type and account number, etc. for addition of the beneficiary to his / her internet / mobile banking module. Upon successful beneficiary addition, the remitter can initiate online NEFT funds transfer by authorising debit to his / her account. Alternatively, the remitter can also visit his / her bank branch for initiating NEFT funds transfer through branch / off-line mode. The customer has to fill-in the beneficiary details in NEFT application form available at the bank branch and authorise the branch to debit to his / her account to the extent of the amount requested in NEFT application form.

Step-2: The originating bank prepares a message and sends the message to its pooling centre, also called the NEFT Service Centre.

Step-3: The pooling centre forwards the message to the NEFT Processing Centre, operated by the RBI, to be included for the next available batch.

Step-4: The Processing Centre sorts the funds transfer transactions beneficiary bank-wise and prepares accounting entries to receive funds from the originating banks (debit) and give the funds to the beneficiary banks (credit). Thereafter, bank-wise remittance messages are forwarded to the beneficiary banks through their pooling centre (NEFT Service Centre).

Step-5: The beneficiary banks receive the inward remittance messages from the Processing Centre and pass on the credit to the beneficiary customers’ accounts.

Ans: Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) is an alpha-numeric code that uniquely identifies a bank-branch participating in the NEFT system. It is a 11-digit code with the first 4 alpha characters representing the bank, and the last 6 characters representing the branch. The 5th character is 0 (zero). IFSC is used by the NEFT system to identify the originating / destination banks / branches and also to route the messages appropriately to the concerned banks / branches.

Ans: Bank-wise list of IFSCs is available with all the bank-branches participating in NEFT scheme. List of bank-wise branches participating in NEFT and their IFSCs is also available on the website of RBI at /en/web/rbi/-/list-of-neft-enabled-bank-branches-bank-wise-indian-financial-system-code-updated-as-on-june-30-2023-2009-1. All member banks have also been advised to print the IFSC of the branch on cheques issued to their customers.

Ans: Individuals, firms and corporates maintaining accounts with any member bank, participating in the NEFT system, can electronically transfer funds to any individual, firm or corporate having an account with any other bank in the country participating in the NEFT system.

The list of bank-wise branches participating in NEFT is available on the website of RBI at /en/web/rbi/-/list-of-neft-enabled-bank-branches-bank-wise-indian-financial-system-code-updated-as-on-june-30-2023-2009-1.

Ans: No, there is no limit imposed by the RBI for funds transfer through NEFT system. However, a member bank may place amount limits based on its own risk perception with the approval of its Board.

Ans: Yes, a person who does not have a bank account can remit funds through NEFT to a beneficiary having a bank account, with another NEFT member bank. It can be done by depositing cash at the nearest NEFT enabled branch of any bank, by furnishing additional details such as complete address, telephone number, etc. Such cash remittances will, however, be restricted to a maximum of ₹50,000 per transaction.

Ans: The outbound remittances through NEFT system are permitted only to Nepal under Indo-Nepal Remittance Facility (INRF) Scheme. Under this Scheme, the remitter can transfer funds from any of the NEFT-enabled bank branches in India to Nepal, irrespective of whether the beneficiary in Nepal maintains an account with a bank branch in Nepal or not. The beneficiary would receive funds in Nepalese Rupees. The details of the INRF Scheme are available on the website of RBI at /en/web/rbi/faq-page-2?ddm__keyword__26256231__FaqDetailPage2Title_en_US=Indo-Nepal Remittance Facility scheme.

Ans: The NEFT system is available round the clock throughout the year on all days, i.e., on 24x7x365 basis. NEFT presently operates in batches on half-hourly intervals throughout the day. In case of non-availability of NEFT for any reason, appropriate message will be broadcasted by RBI to all system participants.