Cheque related fraud cases - preventive measures - ربی - Reserve Bank of India
Cheque related fraud cases - preventive measures
RBI/2014-15/303 November 13, 2014 The Chief Executive Officer Dear Sir / Madam, Cheque related fraud cases - preventive measures The rise in the number of cheque related fraud cases is a matter of serious concern. It is evident that many of such frauds could have been avoided had due diligence been observed at the time of handling and/or processing the cheques and monitoring newly opened accounts. Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) are, therefore, advised to review and strengthen the controls in the cheque presenting/passing and account monitoring processes and to ensure that all procedural guidelines including preventive measures are followed meticulously by the dealing staff/officials. Given below are some of the preventive measures UCBs may follow in this regard. The list is only indicative.
The threshold limits mentioned above can be reduced or increased at a later stage with the approval of the Board depending on the volume of cheques handled by the UCBs or it's risk appetite. 2. In addition to the above, UCBs may consider the following preventive measures for dealing with suspicious or large value cheques (in relation to an account’s normal level of operations): a) Alerting the customer by a phone call and getting the confirmation from the payer/drawer. b) Contacting base branch in case of non-home cheques. The above may be resorted to selectively if not found feasible to be implemented systematically. 3. It has been reported that in some cases even though the original cheques were in the custody of the customer, cheques with the same series had been presented and encashed by fraudsters. In this connection, UCBs are advised to take appropriate precautionary measures to ensure that the confidential information viz., customer name / account number / signature, cheque serial numbers and other related information are neither compromised nor misused either from the bank or from the vendors’ (printers, couriers etc.) side. Due care and secure handling is also to be exercised in the movement of cheques from the time they are tendered over the counters or dropped in the collection boxes by customers. Yours faithfully (Suma Varma) |