JAIPUR: To expedite the payment process for contractors and other cheque transactions, the state government will switch to ‘Cheque Truncation System’ from February 15. Under CTS, presentation and payment of cheques are based on their electronic images thus doing away with the flow of the physical cheques issued by a drawer to the drawee branch.

Following the guidelines of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), state government has decided to adopt the system from mid-February. CTS will enhance efficiency of cheque clearance and make transaction process more transparent. In place of physical cheques an electronic image of the cheque will now be transmitted to the drawee branch through clearing house.

The process would obviate the need to move the physical cheques across branches, other than in exceptional circumstances for clearing purposes. This effectively eliminates the associated cost of movement of physical cheques, reduces the time required for their collection and brings elegance to the entire activity of cheque processing.

CTS will also effectively eliminate the associated cost of movement of the physical cheques, reduces the time required for their collection and bring elegance to the entire activity.

“Most processes of transferring money in the government is already being done online but there are many departments where payments to contractors and agencies take place through cheques. This will now be replaced by CTS,” said an official from the finance department. Departments that are likely to be benefited the most from the process are PWD, PHED, irrigation and forest department.

Meanwhile, as per the RBI directions all state governments have to switch to CTS pushing the discontinuation of MICR-based cheque system.

Source: The Times of India