HDFC Bank customer? Your cheque will be cleared within a few hours from October 4; check details

HDFC Bank on Friday, September 26, informed its customers that their cheques will be cleared within a few hours, starting from October 4. This is in line with the Reserve Bank of India’s new banking rules introduced in August.

The HDFC Bank sent an email to its customers about the RBI’s Continuous Clearing from October 4, saying:

• Customers should maintain sufficient funds at the time of issuing a cheque.
• Cheques will be cleared (or returned) within a few hours without any reference back to the customer.
• Cheques will be cleared within a few hours, subject to receipt of positive confirmation from the drawee bank.

This means that for customers to take the benefit of cheque-clearance within a few hours, they must do a Positive Pay confirmation.

Positive Pay is when a customer re-verifies the details mentioned on the cheques issued electronically. The details include account number, cheque number, beneficiary name, cheque amount and date.

Only cheques with Positive Pay confirmation are eligible for protection under the central bank’s dispute resolution mechanism, as per RBI’s rules.

“This change gives you faster access to funds but also means you must keep your account funded when issuing cheques to avoid returns. At HDFC Bank, we remain committed to making your banking effortless, reliable, and secure,” the bank said in its email.

ICICI Bank also made a similar announcement recently, informing its customers about the same-day cheque clearing. It said that the cheques will need to be deposited within the respective branch cut-off time for same-day clearance.

The central bank, in August, introduced a faster cheque clearance mechanism to reduce the settlement time to just a few hours. Currently, it takes up to two business days for cheques to be cleared.

“It has been decided to transition CTS to continuous clearing and settlement on realisation in two phases. Phase 1 shall be implemented on October 4, 2025, and Phase 2 on January 3, 2026,” the RBI had said.