How the rupees reach an Indian bank account
Most money sent on this route ends as a credit to a bank account in India, and the Indian end of that journey no longer closes for weekends. The Reserve Bank of India's NEFT FAQ says the system runs round the clock on every day of the year and that the beneficiary's account should be credited within two hours of the batch settling. The National Payments Corporation of India runs IMPS, an instant interbank service that also works every day, holidays included. The UK leg is different: a provider's delivery estimate depends on when it receives and converts your pounds, so a weekend booking can show a longer one.
Cash collection is capped
Some services let the recipient collect cash from an agent instead. In India that payout runs under the Reserve Bank's Money Transfer Service Scheme, whose master direction sets three limits that matter to a family sending regularly: each remittance is capped at USD 2,500, one beneficiary can receive no more than 30 of them in a calendar year, and only up to Rs 50,000 can be handed over in cash. Anything above that must be paid into the beneficiary's bank account or by cheque or draft.
Sending to your own NRE or NRO account
If you are a non-resident Indian moving your own savings, the account you choose changes what you can do with the money later. The RBI's FAQ on accounts held by non-residents, updated in January 2025, lists inward remittances from abroad as a permitted credit to both kinds. An NRE account is rupee-denominated and fully repatriable, and the FAQ states that income earned in it is exempt from income tax. An NRO account is not repatriable except for current income such as interest, and NRIs can send its balance abroad only within a USD 1 million a year allowance. If the money may need to come back to the UK, that difference decides which account it should go into.
Tax for the person receiving it
A gift to a relative is not taxed in India. The Income-tax Act, 2025, which came into force on 1 April 2026 in place of the 1961 Act, taxes money received without consideration under section 92 once a year's total from non-relatives passes Rs 50,000, whether it arrives from India or abroad. Money from a relative is excluded. The Income Tax Department's guidance on who counts as a relative covers spouses, siblings, parents, children and other lineal relatives, and says a friend is not one, so regular support to a friend's family can become taxable for them.
Checking the firm on the UK side
Every service in the table above should appear on the FCA's Financial Services Register. The FCA's guide to using payment service providers explains that money held by a payment or e-money institution is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme; instead an authorised firm must safeguard it, holding customers' funds in a separate account at a bank or covering them with an insurance policy or guarantee. To compare a quote with what arrives, put the figures through the money transfer comparison or check the rate in the currency converter.