If you are one of the over 500 million State Bank of India (SBI) customers who use IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) to transfer money instantly, this news is a glaring warning for you. SBI, the country’s largest public sector bank, has announced a major change to its online transaction policy.
Now, sending amounts exceeding ₹25,000 through IMPS will require you to loosen your purse strings. The bank has announced these new service charges in view of the increasing digital banking burden in 2026. In this article, we will explain in detail what the new rules are, how much you will have to pay, and how you can safely avoid these unnecessary expenses.
SBI IMPS New Rules
Until now, SBI has been offering free IMPS to its customers; however, the bank has now developed a new framework for transaction limits and fees. According to the new rules, if you make a transaction of up to ₹25,000, you won’t have to pay any additional fees. However, once the transaction amount exceeds this threshold, the bank will begin charging you a service charge. This charge will depend on your transaction amount slab, and GST (Goods and Services Tax) will also be payable separately.
Transactions between ₹25,000 and ₹1 lakh will now cost ₹10 plus GST. If you transfer an amount between ₹1 lakh and ₹2 lakh, this charge will increase to ₹20 plus GST. For larger transactions between ₹2 lakh and ₹5 lakh, you will have to pay a flat ₹25 plus GST. This simply means that the larger the amount you send in real-time, the higher the service charge.
Why was this fee imposed
Banking experts believe that the exponential increase in the number of digital transactions has burdened banks with technical and networking costs. IMPS is a real-time payment system that requires banks to make significant infrastructure and security investments to maintain.
Besides SBI, private banks like HDFC and ICICI are also following this same strategy. As per RBI guidelines, charging for IMPS is a bank’s choice, and SBI has tried to provide relief to small customers by limiting it to large transactions.
Ways to avoid service charges
If you don’t want to pay additional fees to the bank, you can save significantly by using other payment gateways. For medium and small transactions, UPI (Unified Payments Interface) remains the most efficient and free option. For general payments up to ₹1 lakh, you can use UPI without any fees.
If you’re not in a hurry to send money, use NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer), as this service is completely free online and is ideal for transferring large amounts securely. For larger amounts above ₹2 lakh, use RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement), which operates at lightning speed and currently doesn’t charge any additional fees for online transactions through digital banking.
Adopt Smart Banking
To protect your hard-earned money in the digital age, you should take some smart steps. Always try to limit transactions to less than ₹25,000 or use UPI directly for payments. If your salary account is with SBI, contact your bank manager to see if these charges can be waived on your account.
Additionally, customers with a YONO Premium subscription can also receive a significant waiver on these service charges. At the end of the month, be sure to check the IMPS charges in your bank statement so that you know how much you have spent on banking services.