He Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made changes pertaining to the National Automated Clearing House (NACH) services with effect from 1st August 2021. Accordingly, the “working day” rule, which was in practice earlier in NACH clearings, will now no longer be applicable. NACH facilities were available to customers only on working days, i.e. from Monday to Friday. But now customers will be able to avail these services on all seven days of the week. As a result, customers will not have to wait for the next working day, be it for the credit of their salaries and pensions or while making payments against EMIs and other transactions.
The RBI governor, Mr Shaktikanta Das, confirmed this change after concluding the bio-monthly monetary policy review. He said that this change would ensure the round-the-clock availability of Real-Time Gross Settlement and add more convenience for users.
Along with the NACH rule, a few other changes have also been introduced.
The doorstep delivery charges of the India Post Payments Bank will now be chargeable at the rate of Rs 20 plus GST. It was free of cost earlier.
Banks will now be able to charge more as interchange fees for providing ATM services to customers of other banks. The interchange charge for financial transactions has increased from Rs 15 to Rs 17, while non-financial transactions will be Rs 6 instead of Rs 5.
Cash transaction charges for the home branch will be free up to Rs 2 lakhs per account and Rs 5 per Rs 1000 thereafter, the minimum charge being Rs 150. For non-home branches, cash transactions up to Rs 25,000 is free of charge. The charge for transactions above Rs 25,000 is Rs 5 per Rs 1000, while the minimum charge being Rs 150.
Rs 20 will be charged for every additional cheque book of 20 leaves. The first 25 cheque leaves in a year are free.
What is the NACH?
NACH is a popular mode of direct benefit transfers. It is operated by the National Payments Corporation of India and caters to millions of beneficiaries and customers.
What will change with this rule?
Bank holidays, gazetted holidays and Sundays will not delay the transfer of money. Transfers like the credit of dividend, salary, interest, pension etc., will happen faster. Payments like bill payments, EMIs, investments in mutual funds, payment of insurance premiums etc., will similarly be instantaneous. Many companies use NACH for salary transfers, which will now happen on holidays. NACH is used for direct benefit transfers, and transactions like government subsidies will be faster.
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