Mumbai, April 1: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in it recent release sighted a change from its earlier directive and informed that all payment systems will remain closed on April 1. In its earlier release dated March 25, 2017, the RBI stated that all payment systems, including Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) would operate, as on a normal working day, from March 25 to April 1, 2017 (including Saturday, Sunday and all holidays). The new directive, however, means that that electronic fund transfer channels like RTGS and NEFT will remain closed on Saturday, with no effect on general debit and credit card transactions. However, after reconsideration, it has been decided that all payment systems will remain closed on April 1, 2017.
The RBI release also mentioned that a separate broadcast message in this regard will be issued through the respective system to the member banks. In its release on March 29, the RBI said, “With a view to facilitate accounting of all the government transactions for the current financial year (2016-17) by March 31, 2017, it has been decided that all payment systems, including RTGS and NEFT would operate, as on a normal working day, during the period March 25 to April 1, 2017 (including Saturday, Sunday and all holidays).”
The Apex Bank on March 23 had instructed banks about conducting special clearing exclusively for government transactions on March 30-31. The directive mentioned, “With a view to facilitate accounting of all the government transactions for the current financial year (2016-17) by March 31, 2017, it has been decided to conduct special clearing at all clearing houses across the country on March 30 and 31, 2017.” Further, the notification made it mandatory for banks to participate in the special clearing operations.
