New Format Cheque under Cheque Truncation System (CTS) Standard issued by RBI, in addition to MICR, yet to be notified

"CTS-2010 Standard" for Cheque Forms – Specifications

RBI has proposed a New Cheque Truncation System (CTS) and a Model of proposed cheque, the effective date of which will be intimated soon.

It has since been decided to prescribe certain benchmarks towards achieving
standardisation of cheques issued by banks across the country. These include provision of mandatory minimum security features on cheque forms like quality of paper, watermark, bank’s logo in invisible ink, void pantograph, etc., and standardisation of field placements on cheques. In addition, certain desirable features are also being suggested which could be implemented by banks based on their need and risk perception. The set
of minimum security features would not only ensure uniformity across all cheque forms issued by banks in the country but also help presenting banks while scrutinising /recognising cheques of drawee banks in an image-based processing scenario. The homogeneity in security features is expected to act as a deterrent against cheque frauds, while the standardisation of field placements on cheque forms would enable straightthrough-processing (STP) by use of optical / image character recognition technology (MICR).

Source: RBI Circular DPSS.CO.CHD.No.1832/04.07.05/2009-2010 dated February 22, 2010