Banks to rollout same-day cheque clearance facility on Oct 4:HDFC, ICICI to clear cheques within a few hours starting Saturday in select cities

The long wait for cheque clearance will soon be a thing of the past. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to rollout a major change in cheque clearance system starting Saturday, October 4. As part of the plan, the cheque amount will be credited to the bank account within a few hours after a quick processing. Currently, it takes up to 2 days for cheque clearance. The new “Continuous Clearing and Settlement” system will allow banks to clear the cheques within a few hours, with all tasks handled during the banking hours. Banks have already started the trial of the new system today. Banks Ask Customers to Maintain Account Adequate Balance The HDFC and the ICICI banks have announced plans to roll out the same-day cheque settlement service from October 4. Both banks have asked customers to maintain sufficient account balance and fill details correctly to avoid delays, rejection, or cheque bounce. Banks are also asking customers to use the Positive Pay System to boost security. Under this framework, certain essential details are provided to the bank before depositing cheques worth over ₹50,000. You will need to inform the bank of your account number, cheque number, date, amount, and the name of the payee at least 24 working hours in advance. The bank will verify these details when the cheque is received. If everything matches, the cheque will be cleared; if not, it will be rejected. In such cases, you will need to provide the details again. Learn the new system in QA format Q1: Will the cheque amount be received on the same day? Ans: Yes, in most cases it will happen. If you deposit the cheque in the morning, the money will be credited to your account the same day by afternoon or evening. This change is to make the Check Truncation System (CTS) faster. Q2: What is Check Truncation System or CTS? Ans: CTS is a system where there’s no need to send physical copies of checks back and forth. The check is scanned to create a digital image and that image travels from bank to bank. This eliminates the need for physical transfer of cheques; however, when deposited in drop boxes or Automatic Teller Machines, settlement typically takes two working days. RBI has now made it smarter to make the processing even faster. Q3: How will the new check clearance system work? Ans: If you deposit a cheque between 10 AM and 4 PM, it will be immediately scanned and sent for clearing. Settlement between banks will happen every hour starting 11 AM. The bank that needs to pay must confirm by 7 PM. If they don’t respond, the check will be automatically approved. Q4: Will these rules apply everywhere? Ans: These rules will apply to all bank branches under RBI’s three grids – Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. This means, there will be a uniform system across India. Q5: How is RBI implementing this? Q6: Will there be any new charges for this? Ans: There is no specific information yet about any new charges. RBI’s focus is just to make the process faster and easier. Banks will also need to be prepared to adopt this new system. Q7: Why has RBI taken this step? Ans: This step will further promote Digital India and strengthen the banking system.