Your salary can now arrive on weekends as NACH service to be available on all days starting August 1

From August 1 this year, you will not have to wait for the weekend to pass to get your salary credit as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has changed the rules of the National Automated Clearing House (NACH). NACH facilities will be available from August 1, 2021, seven days a week. At present, the facilities are available only when banks are open, usually between Monday to Friday.

At times when the last or the first day of the month falls on the weekend, the salaried class has to wait till Monday for the salary to be credited to their bank account. In order to further enhance the convenience of the customers and make the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) service available 24x7, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced during the Credit Policy Review on Friday that NACH, which is currently operational only on business days, is proposed to be available on all days of the week with effect from August 1, 2021.

Salary, Pension, EMI payment now even on weekends

NACH is a bulk payment system operated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It facilitates different types of credit transfers such as dividend, interest, salary and pension. Apart from this, the facility of payment of electricity bill, gas, telephone, water, loan EMI, mutual fund investment and insurance premium payment is also provided.

RBI said that NACH has emerged as a popular and prominent digital mode of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for beneficiaries, which helps in timely and transparent transfer of government subsidies during the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, NACH services are available only on days when banks are open, but from August 1, this facility will be available on all days of the week.

Meanwhile, the RBI has not made any change in interest rates for the sixth time in a row. In view of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and the inflation, RBI Governor has decided to keep the Repo Rate (4%), Reverse Repo Rate (3.35%) and Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR-4%) unchanged.