Meaning: RTGS Vs NEFT

Background

NEFT refers to National Electronic Funds Transfer. It is an online system for transferring funds from one financial institution to another within India (usually banks). The system was launched in November 2005, and was set to inherit every bank that was assigned to the SEFT clearing system. 

It was made mandatory by the RBI for all banks on the SEFT system to migrate to NEFT by mid December 2005. As such, SEFT was discontinued as of January 2006. The RBI welcomed banks that were full members of the RTGS to join the NEFT system.

RTGS is an acronym that stands for Real Time Gross Settlement. RTGS is a funds transfer system where money is moved from one bank to another in ‘real-time’, and on gross basis. When using the banking method, RTGS is the fastest possible way to transfer money. 

‘Real-time’ means that the payment transaction isn’t subject to any waiting period. The transaction will be completed as soon as the processing is done, and gross settlement means that the money transfer is completed on a one to one basis without clustering with another transaction. 

The transaction is treated as final and irrevocable as the money transfer occurs in the books of the RBI (Reserve Bank of India). This system is maintained by the RBI, and is available during working days for a given number of hours. Banks using need RTGS  to have Core banking to be able to initiate RTGS transactions.

Differences
The fundamental difference between RTGS and NEFT, is that while RTGS is based on gross settlement, NEFT is based on net-settlement. Gross settlement is where a transaction is completed on a one-to-one basis without bunching with other transactions. 

As for a Deferred Net Basis (DNS), or net-settlement, this is where transactions are completed in batches at specific times. Here, all transfers will be held up until a specific time. RTGS transactions are processed throughout the working hours of the system.

RTGS transactions involve large amounts of cash, basically only funds above Rs 100,000 may be transferred using this system. For NEFT, any amount below Rs 100,000 may be transferred, and this system is generally for smaller value transactions involving smaller amounts of money.

RTGS processes in real-time (‘push’ transfer), while NEFT processes in cycles during the given working day. This causes a NEFT transaction that is initiated later than the last cycle to be completed the next day.

Summary:

RTGS is Real Time Gross Settlement, while NEFT is National Electronic Funds Transfer.
RTGS completes transactions in real-time, and is therefore faster than NEFT, which completes transactions in cycles.

RTGS is gross settlement, where a transfer is completed on a one-to-one basis, while NEFT is on a Deferred Net Basis, where transfers are bundled and deferred for a specific time.

RTGS is a high value transfer system, handling funds worth Rs 100,000 and above, while NEFT transfers smaller amounts below Rs 100,000.