Businessmen and individual customers of banks continue to face delays in cheque-clearance even 10 days after the introduction of the same-day cheque clearance facility introduced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on October 4, 2025.
There are delays in the clearance of cheques, which used to be cleared in two to three working days in the previous system, but now take five to seven days.
“As per feedback from our Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) members, among others, the clearance of cheques is taking up to five days or so after the introduction of the new facility. MSMEs continue to use cheques for various financial transactions,” Rachakonda Ravi Kumar, President, the Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FATCCI), told businessline on Tuesday.
According to Ravi, if cheques return due to software problems, that could impact MSMEs’ credit scores.
The problem has been noticed across States in the unified banking system of the country. Senior officials from banks, including State Bank of India, Canara Bank, and Union Bank of India, have confirmed delays in cheque clearance on condition of anonymity.
Banks have cheque transactions with thousands of crores of business from corporate customers, and the issue of returned cheques is causing a lot of agony, according to bankers.
A senior banker in the Delhi branch of a PSU bank admitted to glitches and delays in the cheque clearing process since the introduction of the RBI’s new Continuous Clearing last week.
“Currently, we have pending checks since October 9 that still need to be cleared. As per the clearing officers in charge, the issue is because the software of some banks is still not prepared to deal with the new clearing system,’‘ he said.
Apparently, many customers have faced issues with the new cheque clearing system. Narrating his experience with the new cheque truncation system, VT Gokhale, lawyer and former investment banker, said: “I had dropped a cheque drawn on my account with Bank of India’s Dombivli (East) branch for ₹3,000 in the drop box of IDBI Bank’s Dombivli (East) branch on October 4 and the amount was credited to IDBI Bank account only on October 10.”
According to sources, the RBI, which tested the new system for one year before its roll-out, has taken stock of the situation and is working closely with NPCI and Banks to ensure smooth clearing of cheques within one day without any delay.
‘Most issues resolved’
In a statement on Tuesday, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said post implementation of the new system, a total of 1.49 crore instruments, amounting to ₹8,49,557 crore, have been processed and cleared through the central system.
“During these initial days, we have encountered some teething issues both at the central system operated by NPCI and at the participating banks, resulting in delays in clearing and in crediting customers’ accounts, and a large number of returns,’‘ it said.
“Most of these issues have now been resolved, and the central system has been stable since Monday, October 13, 2025. NPCI is working with banks to address any remaining issues, to ensure same-day credit for the presented cheques,’‘ it added.
With inputs from KV Kurmanath/Hyderabad, Sindhu Hariharan/ Chennai and Jyoti Banthia/Bengaluru
Published on October 14, 2025