The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued consolidated domestic money transfer directions governing cash payouts to recipients without bank accounts and cash remittances into bank accounts. The directions bring together existing transaction limits, customer verification requirements and monitoring safeguards for banks and authorised payment system operators and participants, replacing circulars issued in 2011 and 2024.
Cash payouts from customers’ bank accounts are capped at INR 10,000 per transaction and INR 25,000 per beneficiary each month. Remitting banks must retain the beneficiary’s name and address. For cash remittances into bank accounts, customers visiting bank branches can transfer up to INR 50,000 through National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT). Transfers through business correspondents, ATMs and similar channels are limited to INR 5,000 per transaction and INR 25,000 per remitter each month.
For cash remittances into accounts, banks or their business correspondents must register senders using a verified mobile number and an officially valid document certified by the remitter. Every transaction requires an additional factor of authentication, and payment messages must include remitter details and identify the transfer as a cash remittance. Banks and nonbanks must implement velocity checks and customer alerts for account credits, immediately investigate unusual increases in credits and alert the appropriate authorities to suspicious transactions. Interbank settlement must use payment systems approved by the RBI.