RBI asks banks to implement image-based Cheque Truncation System in all branches by September 30

Reserve Bank of India has asked banks to implement the image-based Cheque Truncation System (CTS) in all branches by September 30, 2021. The move is aimed at faster settlement of cheques resulting in better customer service.

Last month, the RBI had announced pan-India coverage of CTS by bringing all bank branches under the image-based clearing mechanism.

RBI in its notification said, "The CTS is in use since 2010 and presently covers around 1,50,000 branches. All the erstwhile 1219 non-CTS clearing houses (ECCS centres) have been migrated to CTS effective September 2020. It is, however, seen that there are branches of banks that are outside any formal clearing arrangement and their customers face hardships due to the longer time taken and cost involved in collection of cheques presented by them."

The Apex bank said that to leverage the availability of CTS and provide a uniform customer experience irrespective of the location of her/his bank branch, it has been decided to extend CTS across all bank branches in the country. To facilitate this, banks will have to ensure that all their branches participate in image-based CTS under respective grids by September 30, 2021.