RBI plans to speed up cheque clearance. Here's how

The cheque truncation system, which is currently operational at the major clearing houses of the country, has stabilised well and it has made large efficiency gains: RBI

In a bid to accelerate clearance of cheques, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday said it has decided to implement a cheque truncation system (CTS) across the country by September this year.

RBI introduced this system in 2010. At present, it is operational in some major cities.

"The CTS, which is currently operational at the major clearing houses of the country, has stabilised well and it has made large efficiency gains.

“In view of this, a pan-India CTS will be made operational by September 2020," according to the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies released by RBI.

Observing that digital payments in India have been growing rapidly, RBI said a digital payments index (DPI) will be launched soon.

The Reserve Bank shall construct and periodically publish a composite DPI to capture the extent of digitisation of payments effectively, it said.

"The DPI would be based on multiple parameters and shall reflect accurately the penetration and deepening of various digital payment modes. The DPI will be made available from July 2020 onwards," it said.

With substantial growth in digital payments and maturity gained by entities in the payment ecosystem, it is desirable to have a self-regulatory organisation (SRO) for orderly operations of the entities in the payment system, it said.

The Reserve Bank will put in place a framework for establishing an SRO for the digital payment system by April 2020 with a view to fostering best practices on security, customer protection and pricing, among others, it said.

The SRO will serve as a two-way communication channel between the players and the regulator/supervisor, it added.

To give a fillip to digital banking and enabling regional rural banks (RRBs) to provide cost effective and user-friendly solutions to their customers, it has been decided to allow RRBs, like other commercial banks, to act as merchant acquiring banks, using Aadhaar Pay - BHIM app and POS terminals.

Detailed instructions in this regard will be issued later in the day.

In continuation of efforts to facilitate interoperability of government securities depositories, as announced in the Union Budget 2019-20, the RBI will modify its government securities registry (the PDO-NDS system) to include constituent details in the Constituent Subsidiary General Ledger (CSGL) accounts.

This is expected to fuel interest of retail investors to invest in government securities, it said, adding, the upgrade is expected to be made operational by end of July 2020.

Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters