Use UPI under ₹1 lakh, IMPS when you need instant credit outside UPI, NEFT for anything routine, and RTGS only for ₹2,00,000 and above. All four settle around the clock now. The real differences are cost, the size of the transfer, and what happens when a payment fails. Those three things decide the rail, not speed.
The limits below come from the RBI and NPCI. Your own bank almost certainly applies a lower limit than the regulator does. That lower number is the one that binds you.
NEFT, RTGS, IMPS and UPI compared
| Rail | Minimum | Maximum | Availability | How it settles | Charges |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NEFT | None set by RBI | “No limit imposed by the RBI”; banks set their own | 24x7x365 | Half-hourly batches | Nil for savings customers online since 1 January 2020. Otherwise capped at ₹2.50 to ₹25 plus GST by slab. |
| RTGS | ₹2,00,000 | No ceiling | 24x7x365 since 14 December 2020 | One by one, in real time | Up to ₹25 for ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh, up to ₹50 above ₹5 lakh, plus tax. Inward is free. |
| IMPS | None set centrally | ₹5,00,000 per transaction | 24x7x365 | Instant, one by one | Set by your bank. Not capped by the RBI. |
| UPI | None | Set by NPCI per category and by your bank | 24x7x365 | Instant, one by one | Nil for person-to-person transfers |
Sources: RBI NEFT FAQ updated 2 September 2024, RBI RTGS FAQ updated 31 October 2022, and NPCI circular IMPS/OC-103/2021-22 dated 11 October 2021.
Which one should I use?
For everyday payments, UPI. It is free, instant, and needs no account number. For a transfer above the UPI cap that must land now, IMPS. For rent, EMIs, vendor payments and anything not urgent, NEFT, because online NEFT from a savings account costs nothing. For ₹2,00,000 and above, RTGS is the only rail designed for it.
Property payments are the common case people get wrong. A builder or seller wants certainty of receipt on the day. RTGS settles each payment individually and the beneficiary bank must credit within 30 minutes. NEFT waits for the next half-hourly batch. On a registration day, that difference matters.
What NEFT and RTGS actually cost
Most people are charged nothing. The RBI removed charges on NEFT initiated online by savings account customers with effect from 1 January 2020. Inward NEFT and inward RTGS carry no charge at any branch. If your bank is billing you for online NEFT from a savings account, that is worth a written query.
Where charges do apply, the RBI sets a ceiling rather than a price. For NEFT the caps run ₹2.50 up to ₹10,000, ₹5 up to ₹1 lakh, ₹15 up to ₹2 lakh and ₹25 above that, each plus GST. For RTGS the caps are ₹25 for ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh and ₹50 above ₹5 lakh, plus tax. At 18% GST the RTGS cap is ₹59 at most. Banks may charge less. Many charge nothing on digital channels.
What happens when the money does not arrive?
This is where the rails genuinely differ, and it is the part banks explain worst. Each rail has a deadline written into its rules.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| RTGS. | The beneficiary bank must credit within 30 minutes of receiving the message. If it cannot, the money returns to the originating bank within one hour, or by the end of the RTGS business day, whichever is earlier. |
| NEFT. | The beneficiary bank must credit or return within two hours of the batch completing. |
| IMPS and UPI. | Failures reverse automatically. If the reversal does not happen, the delay is compensated under the RBI’s turnaround time framework. |
So a debited RTGS or NEFT payment that has not reached the beneficiary within those windows is a complaint, not a wait. Raise it with your bank in writing and quote the deadline.
Why does my bank block a transfer the RBI allows?
Because the regulator sets a ceiling and the bank sets your limit inside it. NPCI raised the IMPS per-transaction limit to ₹5,00,000 in October 2021, but many banks still cap IMPS in the app at a lower figure. UPI works the same way. NPCI fixes a limit per category and your bank applies its own, often lower.
There is also a cooling period on a newly added beneficiary at most banks. It is a fraud control, not a regulation, and the duration varies by bank. Add the beneficiary the day before if the payment has a deadline.
We have not printed a table of UPI category limits here. NPCI’s published limit pages could not be opened and verified at the time of writing, and we do not print payment limits we have not read at source. Check the limit inside your own banking app, which is the figure that actually applies to you. One verified data point: the RBI raised the UPI limit for Retail Direct Scheme and IPO applications from ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh in its Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies dated 8 December 2021.
Frequently asked questions
Is NEFT free?
For savings account customers transferring online, yes. The RBI removed those charges from 1 January 2020. Inward NEFT is free at every branch. Branch-initiated NEFT and current account NEFT can still be charged, but only up to the RBI’s caps of ₹2.50 to ₹25 plus GST, by amount slab.
What is the minimum amount for RTGS?
₹2,00,000. There is no upper ceiling. This is the one hard floor among the four rails, and it is why RTGS is not an option for ordinary payments. Below ₹2 lakh you must use NEFT, IMPS or UPI instead.
Is IMPS faster than NEFT?
Yes, in the sense that IMPS settles each payment individually and immediately. NEFT waits for the next half-hourly batch, so a transfer sent at 11:05 settles in the 11:30 batch. For most payments that wait is irrelevant. For a same-day deadline it is not.
Can I send ₹10 lakh through UPI or IMPS?
Not in one transaction. IMPS is capped at ₹5,00,000 per transaction by NPCI, and UPI limits are lower still for most categories. For ₹10 lakh, use RTGS. It has no upper ceiling and settles in real time, and it is the rail the banking system expects for amounts of that size.
Which rail should I use for paying a home loan EMI?
None of them, ideally. An EMI should run on a NACH mandate so it is collected automatically. If you are paying manually, NEFT is enough and costs nothing online. Read our guide to loan foreclosure and charges before you make a large one-off payment towards principal.
Sources
- Reserve Bank of India, NEFT System FAQ, updated 2 September 2024. Primary.
- Reserve Bank of India, RTGS System FAQ, updated 31 October 2022. Primary.
- NPCI, circular IMPS/OC-103/2021-22, 11 October 2021.
- Reserve Bank of India, Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies, 8 December 2021.
Related: best salary accounts, zero balance savings accounts and how UPI fraud works.
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