India's National Electronic Funds Transfer system processed one billion transactions in calendar year 2025. NEFT moved Rs 482 lakh crore in total value over the period, according to the Reserve Bank of India's Payment Systems Report published May 18, 2026. Transaction volumes grew at a compound annual rate of 27.4 percent from 380 crore in CY2021. Value expanded at a CAGR of 14.9 percent from Rs 277 lakh crore over the same four years.
Average transaction values declined from approximately Rs 72,900 in CY2021 to Rs 48,200 in CY2025, a 34 percent compression. NEFT's per-transaction average in CY2025 remained approximately 37 times that of UPI, which averaged Rs 1,300 per transaction across FY26. The gap reflects fundamentally different use cases between batch and real-time settlement channels.
NEFT accounted for 3.6 percent of India's total payment transaction volumes in the second half of CY2025. It held 14.9 percent of total transaction value over the same period. Salary disbursements, vendor settlements, insurance payouts, and tax refunds constitute the primary use cases for the batch rail, segments where half-hourly settlement cycles and unlimited transaction sizes provide operational advantages over real-time alternatives.
April 2026 data from RBI's bankwise volumes showed 833 million NEFT transactions totaling Rs 44.24 lakh crore. This represented a seasonal decline from the March 2026 fiscal year-end peak of 939 million transactions and Rs 56.62 lakh crore. The March surge reflects fiscal year-end salary payments and corporate settlement obligations that concentrate in India's busiest payment month.