Yes. Banks have been advised to pay interest on the amount of cheque on a value-date concept from the date of sighting of credit in their Nostro accounts till such time the credit is actually afforded to customers’ accounts. Interest shall be paid minimum at the Savings Bank rate calculated on the amount of proceeds credited to the customers’ accounts.

Yes. Compensation by way of additional interest will be paid on to the customer for delay in collection beyond the declared collection period as per the bank’s USD Cheque Collection policy and such interest shall be on “step-up basis” for the period of delay. The compensation shall be paid automatically without the customer requesting for the same

Banks are required to make their USD Cheque Collection Policy transparent covering all the relevant aspects detailed above. Banks are also required to widely disseminate the policy by displaying at their branches, on their website, etc. A copy of the policy will be available with the Branch for the customers to go through. Banks have been advised to look into and redress customer complaints like delay in collection / receipt of proceeds, etc. Customers may resort to the redressal mechanism put in place by RBI under the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006 for any complaints.

RBI has recommended the following steps to banks for reducing the timeframe for collection of USD cheques -

• Review the collection policy on an on-going basis so as to explore faster methods of realisation.

• Reduce the transit period for movement of cheques from the collecting branches to the centralised pooling branch and from the centralised pooling branch to CBs.

• Explore feasibility of forming / pooling cheques of various collecting banks to a common service bureau to avail benefits arising out of increased volumes, reduced infrastructure costs, etc.

• Explore the possibility of leveraging on Check-21 facility.

• Use of efficient and reliable courier / postal service.

Yes. The customer can approach the bank to discount or purchase the cheque. It is the commercial decision to extend this facility to customers based on customer profile. It needs to be appreciated that the charges for purchase / discount will be significantly higher because the bank will be parting with the proceeds before realising the cheques. The charges will vary depending on when the request for discount / purchase is made by the customer and the period for which the bank is out of funds.