RTGS system will soon be available 24x7, says RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das

Announcing measures for the payment and settlement systems, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said the RTGS system will soon be made 24x7.

“The RTGS system will soon be made 24x7. This is proposed to reduce settlement and default risk in the system by facilitating settlement of AePS, IMPS, NETC, NFS, RuPay, UPI transactions on all days of the week,” Das stated.

He said the move will make the payments ecosystem more efficient.

Besides RTGS, Das also said the RBI has proposed to enhance, at the discretion of the user, the limits for contactless card transactions and e-mandates for recurring transactions through cards (and UPI) from Rs 2,000-5,000 from January 1, 2021.

This he said is being done in “order to expand the adoption of digital payments in a safe and secure manner.”

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on December 4 decided to keep interest rates unchanged. It has maintained the policy stance at "accommodative", amid high inflation and some signs of economic recovery.

The MPC made a unanimous decision to keep the repo rate steady at 4 percent, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said. The reverse repo rate also remains steady at 3.35 percent. Das said the MPC will maintain the accommodative stance "for as long as necessary."

Meanwhile, Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is projected to contract 7.5 percent in 2020-21, as against an earlier estimate of a contraction of 9.5 percent. And Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation is forecast at 6.3 percent in Q3FY21, and 5.8 percent in Q4.

"Inflation is likely to remain elevated. Signs of recovery are far from being broad-based. A small window available for proactive supply management strategies," the RBI Governor said.