The RBI’s move to implement a continuous cheque clearing and settlement system has run into early hiccups, leaving bank customers waiting for more than two days for their cheques to be cleared, instead of the planned clearance in a few hours.

“I had deposited an Indian Bank cheque into my IndusInd current account on Tuesday morning. Initially, I was told the cheque would be cleared the same day under the new process. Later that evening, when the amount did not reflect in the account, I was told that there was some “scanning machine issue”, so it had to be sent for clearing the old way. I was assured the funds would be deposited by the next evening, as it used to be. However, even after 48 plus hours, there is no update,” said a resident of Jadavpur.

What has changed?

Under the continuous clearing and settlement system, RBI has proposed to reduce the cheque clearing time from T+1 to a few hours.

The regulator set two time frames — a presentation session of 10 am to 4 pm, where cheques received by the bank branches shall be scanned and sent to the clearing house immediately and continuously. The confirmation session is between 10 am and 7 pm, where for every cheque presented, the drawee bank shall generate either a positive confirmation (for honoured cheques) or a negative confirmation (for dishonoured cheques).

Settlement will arrive every hour till the end of the confirmation session.

The first phase of the new system came into effect from October 4, under which banks must confirm cheques by 7 pm. From Phase 2 (January 3, 2026 onward), banks get just 3 hours to respond.

Why the delay?

Bank officials acknowledged that there are implementation issues with the shift from the earlier batch processing to continuous processing. Key challenges include rushed scanning leading to errors in the form of poor quality of scans, blurring and incomplete cheque images, resulting in settlements getting delayed.

Staff at bank branches are also undergoing training on the updated regulations.

A PSU bank official said that the problem is more acute in non-metro branches where the staff are yet to get accustomed to the new process. “There were initial teething problems too when the CTS system was introduced. We understand the customer issues and expect the situation to stabilise soon,” the official said.