New safety features in cheques above Rs 50,000 from Jan 1: How will it work?

Recently, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that it will introduce a mechanism called ‘Positive Pay’ in order to enhance safety features of cheques of value ₹50,000 and above.

Under this new positive pay system, a re-confirmation of key details may be required when a bank user needs to make payments of more than Rs 50,000. This new rule is slated to come into force from January 1, 2021.

According to LiveMint, the system matches specific information related to the cheque presented for clearing, such as the cheque number, cheque date, payee name, account number, amount, and other details against a list of cheques previously authorized and issued by the issuer.

Unless all the specified components of the cheque match exactly, the cheque will not be cleared

The Cheque Truncation System (CTS) flags any discrepancy found to both the drawee and the presenting banks. The banks can therefore address the issue.

The new measure will cover approximately 20 per cent and 80 per cent of total cheques issued in the country by volume and value, respectively.