RBI’s Big Move: Bank Cheques to Clear Within Hours Starting October 4

RBI’s Big Move: Bank Cheques to Clear Within Hours Starting October 4

New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rolls out a new continuous clearing system under the Cheque Truncation System (CTS). From October 4, 2025, bank cheque clearance in India will get much faster. The change will reduce the current clearance time for a cheque from up to two working days to just a few hours.

According to the Reserve Bank of India, under the new system, cheques will be scanned, presented, and processed continuously during business hours instead of in batches. There will be a single presentation session from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and banks must send cheques to the clearing house immediately after receiving them from customers.

RBI to implement the new cheque clearing system in two phases — Phase 1 starts on October 4, 2025, and Phase 2 on January 3, 2026. In Phase 1, banks must confirm whether a cheque is honoured or dishonoured to the customer by 7:00 PM on the same day.

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In Phase 2, the confirmation time will be reduced to three clear hours from the time of receipt. If banks fail to respond within the expected time, the cheque will be treated as approved.

This will apply to any type of bank account that has a cheque facility.

Once the settlement is done, the presenting bank must release payment to customers immediately, and no later than one hour after settlement, subject to usual checks.

RBI has directed all banks to inform customers about these changes and prepare their systems for the upcoming faster cheque clearance process.