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Mumbai, Oct. 9 Inward electronic transaction facilities offered by banks will now be free of cost, following a notification by the Reserve Bank of India issued on October 8. The RBI has also set limits for the fees on outward transactions.

Banks also cannot refuse to accept outstation cheques deposited by customers for collections, the RBI said.

The RBI has set the maximum charges for a single outward electronic transaction using Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) and has set maximum charges for an instrument for outstation cheque collection (see table). Banks may prescribe charges not higher than cheque return charges for Electronic Clearing System (ECS) debit returns, said the RBI.

These charges will be all inclusive and banks should not charge additional charges such as courier charges and so on.

The RBI had earlier conducted an internal survey which revealed that charges levied by banks for these services were not uniform and each bank followed its own policy.

While some basks levied charges based on the number of transactions, some others went by the amount to be transferred. Some banks charged multiple slabs based on the amount, with a base minimum stipulation and some had different charges for local and outstation transactions. The lack of transparency was acting as a hindrance to the overall growth of the electronic payment products, the RBI had earlier said as part of its survey.

More Stories on : E-Commerce & E-Business | Financial Services | RBI & Other Central Banks

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