RBI’s new real-time cheque clearing system faces glitches:Transactions worth billions stuck in Jaipur; poor execution of newly launched process blamed

The Reserve Bank of India’s new real-time cheque clearance system, introduced on October 4 to speed up payments, has broken down due to technical glitches and inadequate staff training. The failure has stalled transactions worth billions during the festive season, causing trouble for traders and the public. RBI has now allowed banks to revert to the old system, under which cheques take one to two days to clear. RBI’s new cheque clearing system faces glitches The system, launched on October 4 to speed up payments, has run into problems due to poor staff training, technical issues with digital imaging and data entry, and data synchronisation errors after software upgrades. Delays and manual verification Clearing files are being rejected in some banks because of auto-mapping errors with IFSC and branch codes. AI-based auto-clearing rules are also sometimes triggered incorrectly, putting even valid cheques on ‘hold’. Many banks have turned to manual verification to prevent payments from stalling. Money deducted from account but payment not going through An employee of a Jaipur cloth merchant said – The checks we deposited 13 days ago are only clearing now. The parties we sent payments to haven’t received money in their accounts, even though the amount was already deducted from our accounts. After complaints, clearing started from Monday. He said that many times it became difficult to explain to customers why checks were not clearing. The bank was also unable to give any clear answer. People have also complained on social media about delays of several days in check clearing. Bank Association raises questions on RBI PNB Employees Union Rajasthan President TC Jhalani says – When facilities like NEFT, RTGS and online banking were already working at high speed, it was not right to hastily introduce such a new system. As a result, checks are now taking longer to clear than before. When any new system is implemented, there are always difficulties in understanding it. However, special training was given in all banks regarding this on Monday. This problem will be resolved in one to two days. Trained manpower will work from today. RBI seeks response The Reserve Bank of India has sought reports from major banks regarding this technical glitch and its resolution. The banking sector believes that until the system is completely stable, transactions worth billions of rupees will remain affected during the festivals.