The Reserve Bank on Wednesday postponed implementation of the second phase of the faster cheque clearance mechanism to provide more time to banks to streamline their operations.
Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
The second phase of the ‘Continuous Clearing and Settlement on Realisation in Cheque Truncation System’ was to be implemented by banks from January 3.
There had been teething issues in the implementation of the first phase that commenced on October 4.
In the second phase, the banks are required to clear cheques within three hours of realisation in the cheque truncation system.
“Implementation of Phase 2 is being postponed, until further notice, to allow more time for banks to streamline their operations,” the Reserve Bank said in a statement.
The timing of the presentation session too has been modified to 9 am to 3 pm, and the timing of the confirmation session is modified to 9 am to 7 pm.
While announcing the introduction of continuous clearing and settlement on realisation in the cheque truncation system in August, the RBI had announced that the presentation session would be from 10 am to 4 pm, and the confirmation session would start at 10 am and close at 7 pm.
Under Phase 1, drawee banks are required to confirm (positively/negatively) cheques presented on them, latest by the end of the confirmation session (7 pm), else those will be deemed to have been approved and included for settlement.
Now, cheques are scanned, presented, and passed in a few hours and on a continuous basis during business hours.
The transition has replaced the cheque clearing cycle of up to two working days with a new and faster process, wherein cheques will be cleared within a few hours of presentation.
In Phase 2, the item expiry time of cheques was to be changed to T+3 clear hours.
