Arrangements For Collection Of Domestic Cheques - Customer Care

Cheques drawn on Bank's own branches, at local or at outstation centres, irrespective of amount and market/business segment, except Govt. Cheques, Banker's Cheques, RBI cheques, received across the counter or through Drop-Box are not required to be presented in clearing or purchased as DD/ sent out on collection as SC. These instruments shall be disposed of at their end only, subject to ceiling for non-home payment as decided by the Bank & advised to branches from time to time. The instruments will be paid by the receiving branches at their end after verifying the genuineness of the instruments and observing all necessary precautions for payment of instruments, who will afford credit directly to the payee's account.

• Cheques drawn on any branch of the our Bank, locally or outstation, will normally be paid on the same day/next day, depending upon the local situations, barring a few exceptional circumstances, for example – insufficient balance, non-availability of drawing power, uncleared balance, cheque number not matching with the cheque range in the system, same cheque number already paid, difference in signature, any lien stop/hold restrictions (statutory, regulatory or otherwise), marked on the account, limit exceeding in case of loan account.
• The facility of immediate credit will be provided by the branch to the satisfactorily conducted accounts (defined hereinafter in the Policy) of their customers in respect of instruments drawn on any of our branches.
  • For the purpose of this Policy, a satisfactorily conducted account shall be one which has been:-
    i) Opened at least six months earlier and fully complies with KYC documentation requirements.
    ii) Is not inoperative.
    iii) Where branch has not noticed any irregular dealings/ suspicious transactions in the last 6 months.
    iv) Where the branch has not experienced any difficulty in recovery of any amount advanced in the past, including cheques returned unpaid after giving credit.
    v) Where no adverse features attached to the account/account holders have been brought to the notice of the Bank.
    vi) Where no cheques/ instruments for which immediate credit was afforded returned unpaid for financial reason.
  • The facility will be available to all individual deposit account holders, without making a distinction about the type of their accounts, i.e. Savings Bank/Current Account etc. It will also be available at all branches/extension counters of the Bank.
• Branches will, on their own, afford immediate credit of outstation cheques of other banks too up to and inclusive of Rs.30,000/- (Rupees thirty thousand only) tendered for collection by their customers
• The facility of immediate credit would however not be applicable to cheques collected under speed clearing arrangements.

• Cheques drawn on other banks at outstation centres in India will normally be collected through our own branches at those centres. Where the Bank does not have a branch of its own, the instrument would be directly sent for collection to the drawee bank or collected through an Associate/correspondent bank.
• All "CTS-2010 Standard" Cheques and other Negotiable Instruments (CTS compliant), payable outstation on any banks, would be presented by the branches linked to respective CTS-Grid through the grid based clearing system (Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi Grids).
• As mentioned in para 1.3.4,wef 1stJanuary 2014, processing of non-CTS cheques was done through a special clearing session in three CTS grid centres[thrice in a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) upto 30th April, 2014, thereafter twice a week upto 31st October, 2014 and is now being done on weekly basis (every Monday) from 1st November, 2014 onwards].
• Timeframe for collection of cheques : Cheques drawn on branches of other banks located at State Capitals/Major "A" class Cities/other locations will be collected within 7/10/14 days respectively. If there is any delay in collection beyond this period, interest at the rate specified as per Para 5.2 shall be paid without insisting/waiting for a request from the customer. Time-limit for collection specified by the Bank shall be treated as the outer limit and credit shall be afforded immediately, if the proceeds get collected earlier.
• There is no change in the accounting procedure for DDP in respect of cases where instruments will continue to be purchased by debit to General Ledger Account/Customer's Liability account and sent for realization to the Drawee bank.
• Outstation cheques will be paid subject to recovery of usual service charges, plus service tax applicable, as per Bank's extant instructions, but such charges shall not be more that the service charges prescribed by RBI for Outstation Collection Charges. No additional charges, P&T, Courier charges etc. will be recovered.

5.2 The timeframe mentioned above are the outer limits and once the instruments are realised, proceeds should be credited to the customer's account immediately.

• With the leverage of CBS and upgradation of technology and introduction of Speed Clearing System/CTS-grid based Clearing at MICR centre, the time frame for collection of outstations cheques for SBI branches/ other banks will be as per normal clearing cycle at the respective centre and for all other centres, the time frame for collection of cheques/ instruments payable in India is as under:
• The timeframes mentioned above are the outer limits and once the instruments are realised, proceeds should be credited to the customer's account immediately.
• The time limit for collection of cheques/instruments payable in foreign countries has been mentioned separately in the Policy, under paragraph No.7.6.

• As part of the Compensation Policy of the Bank, the Bank will pay interest to its customer on the amount of collection instruments under 4.1 a, b and c given above, in case there is delay in giving credit beyond the time period mentioned above. Such interest shall be paid without any demand from customers in all types of accounts. There shall be no distinction between instruments drawn on the bank's own branches or on other banks for the purpose of payment of interest on delayed collection.
• Interest for delayed collection shall be paid at the following rates:

a) Saving Bank rate for the period of delay beyond 7/10/14 days, as the case may be, in collection of outstation cheques, i.e. [the interest will be payable] from 8th /11th /15th day.

b) Where the delay is beyond 14 days, interest will be paid at the rate applicable for term deposit for the corresponding period or Saving Bank rate, whichever is higher.

c) In case of extraordinary delay, i.e. delays exceeding 90 days, interest will be paid at the rate of 2% above the corresponding Term Deposit rate.

d) In the event of the proceeds of cheque under collection to be credited to an overdraft / loan account of the customer, interest will be paid at the rate applicable to the loan account. For extraordinary delays, i.e. delays exceeding 90 days, interest will be paid at the rate of 2% above the rate applicable to the loan account.

• Interest as above shall be payable with a minimum of Rs.25/-.

• In the event of a cheque/instrument accepted for collection being lost in transit or in the clearing process or at the paying bank's branch, the Bank shall immediately, on coming to know of the loss of instrument, bring the same to the notice of the account holder, so that the drawer can be informed to record stop payment, and take care that cheques, if any, issued by him/her are returned with specific remarks and not just dishonored due to non-credit of the amount of the lost cheques/instruments. The Bank would also advise the drawee bank all particulars of lost cheques / instruments for exercising caution and provide all assistance to the customer in obtaining a duplicate instrument from the drawer of the cheque.
• Where a cheque/instrument is claimed to have been deposited by the customer in Drop-Box, but Bank's records do not show receipt of such cheque with the Bank, the Bank can not decide on the compensation amount for lost cheque in the absence of details of cheque like date, amount, drawee bank/branch/drawee centre etc. In such cases, the customer will have to corroborate a claim for lost cheque with full facts, inter-alia, including confirmation/enquiries from the drawee person/banks about genuineness of the claim and, on this basis if it is established that the customer has, in fact, tendered the cheque in Drop-Box, the Bank will consider payment of compensation in terms of the State Bank of India Compensation Policy.
• In line with the Compensation Policy of the Bank, the Bank will compensate the account-holder in respect of instruments lost in transit in the following way:

a) In case intimation regarding loss of instrument is conveyed to the customer beyond the time limit stipulated for collection (7/10/14 days, as the case may be), interest will be paid for the period exceeding the stipulated collection period at the rates specified in para 5.2 above for cheques payable in India and at rates specified at Para 7.7.4 below in regard to cheques payable abroad.

In addition, Bank will pay interest on the amount of the cheque for a further period of 15 days at Savings Bank rate to provide for possible further delay in obtaining duplicate cheque /instrument and collection thereof.

c) The Bank would also compensate the customer for any reasonable charges which he/she incurs in getting duplicate cheque/instrument upon production of receipt, in the event the instrument is to be obtained from a Bank/institution who would charge a fee for issue of duplicate instrument, subject to a maximum of Rs. 250/-.