At present, the RTGS system is available for customer transactions from 8 am to 6 pm.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the timings for customer transactions through the payments system Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS). With effect from August 26, the RTGS transactions will open at 7 am, instead of 8 am at present. "In order to increase the availability of the RTGS system, it has been decided to extend the operating hours of RTGS and commence operations for customers and banks from 7:00 am," the central bank said in a statement on Wednesday. RTGS is meant for instant fund transfers above Rs 2 lakh.

Here are the details of the new RTGS timings that will come into force from August 26:

Event Time Open for Business 07:00 hours Customer transactions (Initial Cut-off) 18:00 hours Inter-bank transactions (Final Cut-off) 19:45 hours Intraday Liquidity (IDL) Reversal 19:45 hours - 20:00 hours End of Day 20:00 hours

(Source: RBI)

At present, the RTGS system is available between 8 am and 6 pm for customer transactions, and between 8 am and 7:45 pm for inter-bank transactions.

Earlier this month, the RBI decided to allow round-the-clock fund transfers through the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) from December. Currently, NEFT transactions are available for customers from 8 am to 7 pm on all working days with the exception of second and fourth Saturdays of a month. The NEFT system is used for fund transfers of up to Rs 2 lakh.

In its June policy, the RBI did away with charges on fund transfers through RTGS and NEFT routes. State Bank of India (SBI) waived RTGS and NEFT charges for its customers from July 1.