Value of transactions by cheque down 2.6% in ‘10-11

The value of transactions carried out through cheques declined by 2.6 per cent to Rs 101.33 lakh crore in 2010-11 and only Delhi and Bangalore, among the major centres, reported a rise in value of clearances in the fiscal.

Transactions worth Rs 104.09 lakh crore were carried out in the country during the previous fiscal, as per the latest data from the Reserve Bank.

However, the total number of cheques cleared by banks across the country rose marginally by 0.4 per cent 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.

Among the major banking regions, Mumbai reported the highest value of transactions through cheques in 2010-11.

Banks witnessed cheque transactions worth almost Rs 17.07 lakh crore in the region as against Rs 19.39 lakh crore, a decline of almost 19 per cent.

Delhi, however, reported a rise of over 10 per cent in transactions through cheques at almost Rs 14.40 lakh crore in 2010-11 against Rs 12.99 lakh crore in the previous fiscal.

In Bangalore, the value of transactions through cheques went up to Rs 4.74 lakh crore in the last fiscal from Rs 4.58 lakh crore in 2009-10. But transactions saw a fall in the other major regions - Chennai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.

In Chennai, cheque transactions in 2010-11 fell by almost 13 per cent to nearly Rs 5.50 lakh crore from Rs 6.31 lakh crore in the previous fiscal.

Transactions through cheque amounted to Rs 4.10 lakh crore in Ahmedabad in 2010-11, down 9.30 per cent from the Rs 4.52 lakh crore in 2009-10.

In Hyderabad, the value of transactions by cheque went down by 5.2 per cent to Rs 3.32 lakh crore in the last fiscal compared to Rs 3.51 lakh crore in 2009-10.

Among smaller regions, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Jammu, Patna and Jaipur saw a growth in cheque transactions in 2010-11, while the figures in Bhopal, Guwahati, Kanpur, Nagpur and Thiruvananthapuram witnessed a dip.