Value of cheque transactions dip 6% in Oct: RBI

The total value of transactions carried out using cheques across the country amounted to Rs 8.53 lakh crore in October, down 6% vis-a-vis the same month last year.

Banks had cleared cheques worth Rs 9.07 lakh crore in October, 2010, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The number of cheques cleared by banks in October also went down by 8.9% compared to the same month last year. In all, 11.34 crore cheques were cleared by banks during the month, compared to over 12.44 crore in October 2010.

During the April-October period, the total value of transactions carried out using cheques stood at Rs 57.41 lakh crore, as against Rs 58.23 lakh crore in the same period a year ago, a dip of 1.4%.

A total of 77.97 crore cheques were cleared by banks during the first seven months of the current fiscal, a decline of almost 3.5% from 80.82 crore in the April-October period a year ago.

In October, the Mumbai region reported the highest number of cheque clearances, as well as the maximum transaction value for any zone.

Banks in the Mumbai region cleared a total of 2.17 crore cheques, with total value of over Rs 1.37 lakh crore.

In the Delhi region, banks reported that 1.31 crore cheques, with a total value of over Rs 1.08 lakh crore, were cleared in September.

The Chennai region stood third, with banks reporting a total 60.2 lakh cheque clearances worth over Rs 44,600 crore.

Cheque transactions have been on the decline during the past few years with the growth of the electronic transfer medium, according to experts.

The value of cheque transactions in the country declined by 2.6% year-on-year to Rs 101.33 lakh crore in 2010-11. Delhi and Bangalore were the only major centres to report a rise in the value of clearances last fiscal.

However, the total number of cheques cleared by banks across the country grew marginally by 0.4% in 2010-11. Over 1.38 lakh crore cheques were cleared by banks across the country last fiscal, as against 1.30 lakh crore in 2009-10.