RBI increases IMPS transaction limit to Rs 5 lakh per transaction

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced a revision in the transaction limit for the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), increasing it from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

IMPS is an important payment system providing 24x7 instant domestic funds transfer facility and is accessible through various channels like internet banking, mobile banking apps, bank branches, ATMs, SMS and Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS).

Also Read | LPG cylinder price hiked; check new rates here

According to the RBI, the per-transaction limit in IMPS before today's revision, effective from January 2014, was capped at Rs 2 lakh for channels other than SMS and IVRS, while the per-transaction limit for SMS and IVRS channels was Rs 5000.

Also Read | Srinagar: School principal, teacher shot dead in terrorist attack

With Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) now operational round the clock, there has been a corresponding increase in the settlement cycles of IMPS, thereby reducing the credit and settlement risks.

In view of the importance of the IMPS system in the processing of domestic payment transactions, it was proposed to increase the per-transaction limit from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for channels other than SMS and IVRS.

"This will lead to a further increase in digital payments and will provide an additional facility to the customers for making digital payments beyond Rs 2 lakh. Necessary instructions in this regard would be issued separately," the RBI said.

Apart from this, the RBI has also introduced another cohort in its regulatory Sandbox. Reserve Bank's Regulatory Sandbox (RS) has so far introduced three cohorts.

Six entities have successfully exited the First Cohort on 'Retail Payments' while under the Second Cohort on 'Cross Border Payments', eight entities are undertaking tests.

The application window for the Third Cohort of 'MSME Lending' is currently open.

-PTC News