Pune: Account holders and merchants continue to face delays in cheque processing under the newly implemented single presentation cheque clearance system, despite the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)’s claim of “stable system”.In a statement, NPCI acknowledged initial challenges at both the central system and participating banks, which led to delays in clearing cheques, crediting customer accounts and a high volume of returns. It claimed that 1.49 crore cheques totalling Rs 8.5 lakh crore have been processed through the central clearing system since the system’s rollout on Oct 4.“The core problem lies in the transition from manual to electronic verification,” Sachin Nivangune, Pune president of the Retailers’ Association of India, said. “The software fails to recognise minor variations in registered signatures, resulting in cheques being dishonoured,” he said.Bankers acknowledged that the cheque clearing system was experiencing software-related issues since the migration to the new platform. “Cheques are being rejected despite sufficient funds in the issuer’s account. In some instances, the amount was debited from the account, but the transaction did not reflect in the system. Besides, the processing time for cheques is not being completed within the same day, as mandated by the updated guidelines,” a banker said.Krishna Barorkar, general secretary of the Bank of Maharashtra Officers’ Association, said they were closely monitoring the situation. “We expect the problem to be resolved soon,” Barorkar said.The general secretary of Maharashtra State Bank Employees’ Federation, Devidas Tuljapurkar, said the new system appeared to have been rolled out without sufficient operational preparedness. “This is negatively impacting customer service, with instances of debited accounts not reflecting corresponding credit, causing confusion and dissatisfaction among consumers. Banks are also struggling with transaction reconciliation and an increased risk of financial losses,” he said.Activist Rajeev Tamhane said the switch to the new system was fundamentally beneficial for customers as it reduced the processing time. “having said that, the new system will take some time to adapt. The policymakers could have picked a better timing as there is increased activity and staff shortage ahead of the festive season. The issue has been further compounded as little time was given to make the shift,” he said.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Sept 26 notified the rules for single presentation with a continuous clearing system on the cheque truncated system.For graphics:Single presentation cheque clearance system It is a new framework introduced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to speed up cheque clearance processesTHE PROCESSCheques are scanned and sent to the clearing house immediately and continuously during the presentation sessionDrawee banks process cheques continuously throughout the day on a real-time basisFor every cheque presented, the drawee bank generates positive confirmation (for honoured cheques) and negative confirmation (for dishonoured cheques)The system aims to streamline cheque clearance and provide faster confirmation for transactions ROLLOUTPhase 1 (Oct 4-Jan 2): Drawee banks must confirm cheques by 7pm. Else, they will be deemed approvedPhase 2 (from Jan 3): Item expires 3 hours after presentation. For instance, cheques received between 10am-11am, they must be confirmed by 2pm
