1. Cheque system in PO Savings Bank

2. Introduction PO Savings bank transacts in cheques for
Acceptance of cheques for opening of accounts or investment in certificates
Subsequent deposits in accounts
Allowing withdrawals from cheque accounts
Stocks and issues cheque books to depositors

3. General conditions
Facility of deposit or withdrawal by cheque in SB account is available in all HOs and Departmental SOs
BOs/EDSOs can only accept deposits by cheque/DD
SB Cheque accounts can be opened only by literate adults who can sign in running hand
The minimum balance is Rs
The depositor should be properly introduced
Passbook need not be presented with deposit or cheque withdrawal

4. Acceptance of cheques for deposit
General conditions
Cheque is written and signed in ink
Cheque should not be post dated
Cheque should not be more than 3 months old
Cheque is drawn or endorsed in favour of the Postmaster
Cheque should be crossed generally or specially to POSB
Amount entered in words and figures tally
Not drawn for amount less than Rs. 5/-
No corrections, overwriting or erasures
Not mutilated or torn
Endorsement, if cheque is not drawn in favour of Postmaster by depositor
If cheque is in favour of depositor, the depositor will enter the cheque of cheque in pay-in-slip
If cheque is drawn by a third party in favour of Postmaster, cheque should be accompanied by an application from depositor
Cheque drawn on POSB in favour of person other than depositor can be accepted, if it is duly endorsed in favour of depositor

5. Acceptance of cheques for deposit
Opening of accounts
For SB accounts, initial deposit should be only through cash
For other types of accounts cheques can be accepted but account opened only after realisation
For investment in NSC also, certificates are issued only after realisation, but only local cheques drawn in favour of Postmaster are accepted

6. Acceptance of cheques for deposit
Subsequent deposits
SB – amount is accounted for after realisation and the date of realisation is the date of deposit
RD – amount is accounted for on realisation and date of presentation is taken as date of deposit
PPF – amount of subscription accounted for on realisation and date of realisation of cheque is taken as date of deposit

7. Local and outstation cheques
Criteria
Cheque drawn on any bank at the same station of PO where cheque is accepted is treated local
Cheque drawn on any bank at the same station of HO and accepted at any of the SOs treated as local
All other cheques are treated as outstation cheques
Collection charges on outstation cheques
For the first Rs. 1000/- …………………………Rs
For every additional Rs. 1000/- or part . Rs

8. Collection charges on o/s cheques
No commission is charged on outstation cheques drawn on POSB
No commission is charged on cheques presented on local bank of SO and got cleared through HO concerned due to non availability of SBI/nationalised bank/clearing house

9. Procedure followed Cheques accepted for deposit in POSB
Details of cheques accepted to be entered in Register
The office will prepare list of cheques for collection in SB-51 in triplicate and submit to bank
Bank gives acknowledgement on the third copy for acceptance
On realisation, the bank returns the second copy with due remarks
The PO will account for the amount as deposit or investment as the case may be, taking date of realisation as date of deposit and showing the amount as remittance to bank in the accounts
In case of SOs without clearing facility, cheques will be sent to HO for realisation
HO realises the cheques and takes the deposit as Part II deposit to HO sending intimation to SO; SO makes entry in ledger in red ink as Part III deposit ( In case of new accounts or NSC investment, HO sends intimation to SO, retaining the amount of deposit as remittance in advance)
Intimation of realisation has to be sent to depositor

10. In Sanchay Post
The operator has to enter the cheques received using the ‘Cheque clearing – prepare cheque list option’
On the date of realisation, the operator should use the menu ‘Cheque clearing – Realisation/ Posting of cheque’ and mark the cheques realised
In case of SB deposits, the operator has to use the option ‘Post realised cheques’ to enter deposit of these cheques in concerned accounts
In case of accounts opened or NSC investment, select cheque option and the realised cheque concerned
In SB cash, the total amount of these cheques to be shown as ‘Remittance to bank’

11. In offices without Sanchay Post
List of cheques can be generated in SB cash using the menu ‘Tools – Entering unaccounted cheques’
Manual process of deposit/investment entry to be completed in the usual course
Total amount of realisation of cheques to be entered in SB cash using the menu ‘Remittance – Remittance to Bank’

12. Withdrawal through cheque
Following checks to be applied on the cheque presented
Cheque is in form supplied by the PO to depositor
Cheque is neither cancelled nor mutilated or torn
Not drawn for amount below Rs. 5/-
No stop payment instructions from drawer exist
Signature of drawer/s tally with specimen on record
Cheque is within the period of currency
Amount in words and figures tally
Balance is sufficient
Withdrawal can also be allowed even if balance goes below minimum for cheque but depositor should be suitably advised

13. Modes of payment Uncrossed cheques Crossed cheque
Order cheque - paid to the payee
Bearer cheque – paid to bearer after due identification
Crossed cheque
Payable to banker
Withdrawal can also be allowed on SB-7 to depositor after confirming genuineness

14. Clearing house process for POSB
The clearing house hands over the cheques drawn on POSB to PO representative
PO representative comes to HO and checks instrument and availability of funds
In case of SO cheques, HO sends cheque to SO for verification, blocking the amount and returning cheque
For accepted cheques, PM draws a cheque for total amount in favour of clearing house and representative hands over at the next meeting
In case of SO cheques, the withdrawal is taken as Part II withdrawal at HO and Part III by SO
In case of cheques not accepted, HO prepares bank wise list and returns to clearing house

15. Action in Sanchay Post
The operator has to use the option SB – Advice of remittance, select the cheque concerned, enter the amount and Send the transaction when cheque is received for verification
When payment is processed in clearing house, the operator to use the same menu again and mark the cheque as processed

16. Clearing house process for cqs recd
SOs to prepare and send cheques for clearance to HO identified as member of clearing house
HO will include its own cheque and prepare bank wise/ branch wise lists in four copies
Clearing house affords credit for the cheques cleared and sends scroll; Dishonoured cheques returned by clearing house with remarks
Thereafter, the HO accounts for transactions as Part I or Part II deposits in the usual course

17. Dishonoured cheques
Dishonoured cheques are returned to depositor with objection memo
Service charge of Rs. 50/- and postage charges for return memo recovered from account – credited to UCR

18. Issue of cheque book In Sanchay Post
In case of new accounts, the cheque leaves drawn is shown in the account opening form; The operator and supervisor to ensure same cheque book is given
The rubber stamp impression of office name has to be impressed in each cheque leaf and also account number(Supervisor’s role)

19. Issue of cheque book in Sanchay Post
Issue of fresh cheque book
Supervisor uses the group SB and selects the form Issue cheque book and draws new form
In the form, he enters the accounts number, presses Enter key
The number of unused cheque leaves are displayed
The supervisor selects the number of cheque leaves in the book; the serial number of cheques to be issued is displayed
Supervisor clicks Send option, selects the same cheque book, impresses rubber stamp of account number and office name and issues cheque to depositor

20. Issue of cheque book manually
On receipt of request from depositor, cheque book is deducted from the stock, stamp of PO name and account number impressed on each leaf and issued to depositor
Entry of the cheque book issued will be made in the ledger

21. Closure of cheque account
The unused cheque book or leaves to be surrendered by the depositor
Unused cheque book to be taken to stock and can be issued to another depositor
A note should be made in the ledger/ ledger card
Unused cheque leaves in a book should be transferred to SBCO
SBCO should cancel all unused cheque leaves
Same procedure will be followed in case of transfer
In Sanchay Post, when cheque a/c is closed, Application will show the list of cheque leaves remaining unused and operator has to confirm receipt of these