The cheque truncation system (CTS) introduced from 2008 has still not been able to dispel fear among customers of cheque clearing-related frauds.
A number of fraudulent cheque transactions have been reported in which customers are short-changed, according to sources.
It is high time the Central Economic Offences Wing took serious note, they said.
On August 6, Bank of Baroda, Virudhunagar, presented a cheque for ₹7,35,230 with the local branch of State Bank of India. A credit was to be made to a non-home customer maintaining an account with its Station Road branch, Pune. SBI made out the payment the same day.
But it received a letter from the drawer of the cheque having an account with the Tarapur Industrial Estate, Boisar, saying that the cheque had not been issued and that the original cheque was in his custody.
It became clear that a fake cheque had been presented by manipulating security information such as data on the MICR band, date of presentation and presenting bank.
This could happen only with scamsters acting in collusion with accomplices in the security presses, the sources said.
FIRs filed Meanwhile, SBI proceeded to communicate the matter to the branches of Bank of Baroda at Virudhunagar and Station Road, Pune.
But an amount of ₹6,50,000 was drawn across the counter from Bank of Baroda, Station Road branch, Pune, and ₹50,000 through ATM on August 7 itself.
The Administrative Office of SBI, Madurai, instructed its Virudhunagar branch to contact the local branch of Bank of Baroda, seeking KYC details of the customer and refund of the fraudulent transaction.
SBI, Viruduhunagar, has since received a copy of the account opening form and ID proof. The address proof of the lease document submitted by the customer to Bank of Baroda, Station Road, Pune, is awaited.
The SBI got in touch with its Tarapur Industrial Estate branch as also the drawer of the cheque. The branch was of the view that an FIR had to be filed by the Virudhunagar branch only.
The drawer of the cheque has filed one with the Tarapur police station. At the other end, SBI, Virudhunagar, has done the same with the District Crime Branch, Virudhunagar.