KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 14

Stakeholders have stated that the 24-hour operation of Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) in India is going to benefit the Nepali market.

India has started 24-hour service of RTGS starting from today. As Nepal and India have very close financial relations, this service will definitely support Nepali businesses, said Bhuvan Kumar Dahal, president of Nepal Bankers’ Association (NBA).

“Round-the-clock RTGS service in India will support late-hour processing of fund transfers from Nepal,” he said, adding, “People will now not have to wait for another day if they miss office hours.

One can transfer money as per their convenience.” Any person from India can also process their fund transfer at any time, thus, this will benefit service-seekers in both Nepal and India. “This could help increase the use of RTGS for fund transfers between the two neighbours,” Dahal added.

Meanwhile, Narayan Pokharel, deputy spokesperson for Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), said that 24-hour RTGS service in India might not have an impact immediately during this crisis but it is surely going to be beneficial in the long-term. “Currently, fund transfer between Nepal and India has been affected due to the pandemic,” he said, adding, “However, in the near future this 24-hour service will benefit the public, particularly business people who have been doing business with India.”

Pokharel, however said that the system will neither have a positive nor a negative impact on the Nepali market. It is just that service-seekers will benefit more, he added.

He further said that the central bank might now consider providing 24-hour RTGS service even in Nepal. “As our neighbouring country has adopted this practice we also have to think about it,” he added.

Nepal introduced the RTGS system in September last year and all 28 commercial banks have adopted this system for transactions.