Charge for cash withdrawal and deposits of cheques by customers: RBI paper

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PTI: Mumbai, Jan 31 2013, 21:17 IST

Seeking to discourage usage of cheques, an RBI paper today suggested that banks should charge cash withdrawal and deposit through cheques, while the government agencies should do away with 'convenience charges' for online payment of utility bills.

"In order to avoid increased dependence or slippage to cash-based transactions, high (both in amount and frequency) cash withdrawals and deposits of cash by individuals may also be charged," said a discussion paper floated by RBI on 'Disincentivising Issuance and Usage of Cheques'.

The other major suggestions include restriction on number of free cheque books, high fee on cheque books, mandatory online payment of credit card bills and ban on post-dated cheques (PDCs).

As per the discussion paper, the government should do away with "convenience charges" for online payment of utility bills and discourage cheque collection boxes at public places.

The suggestions, on which the RBI has invited comments from public by February 28, seek to establish a "less-cash" society and encourage greater adoption of electronic mode of payment.

"...the cheque volumes being processed in the country are still very large. It is felt that speed of decline in usage of cheques can be enhanced by building some 'disincentives' for the cheque-users without causing any undue hardship for any particular section of the society," the paper said.

On the practice of issuing free cheque books by banks, it said, they "should be kept to a minimum number on a per annum basis. The charges levied by banks beyond this number may range from moderate to steep (slab rate) depending

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Reader's Comments (4)| Post a Comment

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Suresh Puranik | 03-Feb-2013Reply | Forward

What guarantee Govt gives for frauds by hackers of Cards?In USA more than 40 million cards were hacked and a huge amount was withdrawn fraudulently. Secondly who is going to pay for charges on card transactions. Thirdly, what guarantee Govt and/or Bank gives that they will issue/reissue the cards in time. I have experience that when I asked for a reissue of card, which was lost to ATM, I had to fight for 14 months to get the new card.In USA I got my card in 10 minutes of my opening the account. In India it takes months.Why that? Can Govt/RBI/Banks explain that?

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Ramakishore B | 01-Feb-2013Reply | Forward

It is a good move to bring the cash and cheques usage to the minimum. To bring the Cash transactions down RBI must withdraw Rs.1000/- and Rs.500/- notes. It will also bring down the Black money and Fake currency in the country. It will also bring down the inflation. Cash payments/withdrawls of above Rs.50,000/- must be made exceptional transactions and need the authorisation of Branch Manager with a request from the customer in writing. Rural and Semi-urban branches must be exempted from the limitations . Already Banks are levying fee for cheque books issued to Current account customers. The cost may be doubled to Rs.2/- per cheque. All Govt. related payments must be made online and accordingly the Servers of the Govt. agencies must be upgraded. All charges levied for online payments must be banned. Indian Railways charges on each ticket for both booking and cancellation while transacted online. Banks should not charge when Credit or Debit Cards are used for Bill Payments. All Hospitals must be made to accept both Credit and Debit Cards where the transactions are above Rs.20,000/- . It will be wise to first restrict Cash transactions and then restrict Cheques in a phased manner. If cheques are restricted then cash transactions will soar and will lead to more money circulation and Black money which will skyrocket the inflation.

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Shirish | 01-Feb-2013Reply | Forward

The limit for cash withdrawal through the ATMs should be then increased to a good level. For example, ICICI bank allows withdrawal of Rs. 15000/- only in a day, no matter what the balance in the account is! For any amount more than this, one has to withdraw the same by cheque. It is incorrect to charge any amount for this type of withdrawal of money by cheque. It is to be noted here, that for getting this limit of witdrawl raised, the bank requires different type of account with different amount of minimum balance in account and would charge as well. This way, the customer/ account holder is at disadvantage- for not having easy access to his own money held in account or is required to pay for the amount which is belongs to him.