If you often
delay depositing your cheques
for credit into your bank account, be warned. From 1 April 2012,
cheques, drafts, pay orders and banker's cheques will be valid for only
three months. Currently, these
instruments are valid for six months from the date of issue.
The
Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) said that some people were taking undue advantage of the long
validity period and circulating these instruments in the market like
cash for six months.
"In public interest and in the interest of
banking policy, it is necessary to reduce the period within which
cheques/drafts/pay orders/banker's cheques are presented for payment
from six months to three months from the date of such instrument," the
RBI said in a statement.
The three-month validity will apply for
all cheques and drafts dated 1 April 2012 or later. Banks will have to
mention the three-month validity on cheques and drafts issued from the
next financial year.
The central bank has asked banks to ensure
that account payee cheques and drafts are only credited to accounts of
the person named in the instrument. Banks have also been asked to issue
demand drafts of Rs 20,000 and above without account-payee crossing.
Demand drafts without any crossing were being used for transfer of money
as an alternative to settlement through cash.
http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/cheque-validity-payment-pay-orders-credit/1/20418.html