RBI folds money transfer rules into one set of directions, keeps ₹50,000 cash NEFT limit

The Reserve Bank of India has folded its domestic money transfer rules into a single set of directions, according to reports on November 11, 2026. The central bank has kept the transaction limits already in force and spelt out the safeguards that banks and payment operators must apply to cash-based remittances.

The most visible limit is unchanged: a walk-in customer at a bank branch can send up to ₹50,000 in cash to a bank account through NEFT, whether or not the sender holds an account with that bank.

What the directions say

The directions set three separate ceilings for cash-linked transfers.

Cash transfer limits retained

• ₹50,000cash NEFT at a branch, walk-in customers
• ₹5,000per transaction via business correspondents, ATMs and other channels
• ₹25,000monthly cap per remitter on those channels
• ₹10,000cash payout per transaction to a beneficiary without a bank account, ₹25,000 a month

Remitters must be registered with a verified mobile number and a self-certified officially valid document, as required under the Know Your Customer Directions, 2025. Every transaction needs an additional factor of authentication.

Remitter details must travel with the message in IMPS or NEFT transfers, along with an identifier marking the transfer as cash-based. Banks and non-bank operators must run velocity checks, alert customers to credits, look into unusual spikes in credit volumes immediately and report suspicious transactions. Transfers are to be real-time or near-real-time, and interbank settlement must go through payment systems approved by the RBI.

The rules apply to scheduled commercial banks, regional rural banks, urban cooperative banks, state cooperative banks, district central cooperative banks, and authorised payment system operators and participants where they offer domestic money transfer. Card-to-card transfers are left out and stay under their existing guidelines.

Banks and non-banks may levy reasonable charges and set up grievance systems. Complaints fall under the RBI-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2026.

How we got here

The framework for this segment dates to the RBI circular of October 5, 2011, which these directions repeal. On July 24, 2024, the RBI tightened the KYC requirements: remitting banks had to keep the beneficiary’s name and address for cash payouts, validate each transaction with an additional factor of authentication, register remitters through a verified mobile number and an officially valid document, and follow the Income Tax Act on cash deposits.

The RBI said then that banking outlets had expanded, payment systems had developed and KYC had become easier to meet. Much of that 2024 content now sits in the consolidated text. The new directions repeal the October 5, 2011, circular on relaxations in domestic money transfers and the July 24, 2024, circular that reviewed the framework.

Why it matters to readers

For migrant workers and families who send cash home through a bank branch or a local business correspondent, no limit changes. The ₹5,000 per-transaction and ₹25,000 monthly ceilings on business correspondent and ATM channels, and the ₹50,000 branch ceiling, stay where they were.

What changes is the paperwork behind a transfer. Banks must mark cash-sourced messages, monitor credits and flag sudden jumps in volume, which is aimed at stopping accounts from being used to move money on behalf of others. Senders without an account will have to be registered with a mobile number and an identity document before the first transfer.

What to watch

The reports do not give the effective date, the circular number or the exact title of the directions. Banks and payment operators will need to align their systems with the identifier and monitoring requirements once the effective date is confirmed on the RBI website. Customers with complaints about a transfer can approach the RBI-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2026.