NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 7: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Saturday dismissed claims circulating on social media that existing cheque books would become invalid after December 31, 2026, and new cheque books with updated security features would be introduced from January 1, 2027.
Terming the messages factually incorrect and misleading, the central bank clarified that it was not introducing any changes to cheque books currently used under the Cheque Truncation System (CTS).
In a post on X, the RBI said it had taken note of messages claiming that banks would switch to cheque books featuring revised security standards from the beginning of 2027.
“RBI is not introducing any such measures with regard to the CTS cheque books,” it said.
The central bank urged members of the public to rely only on information published through its official channels and cautioned against believing unverified messages circulating on social media.
Meanwhile, in a separate development, the RBI has proposed tighter documentation requirements for agricultural loans under its draft Reserve Bank of India (Priority Sector Lending – Targets and Classification) Directions, 2026.
The draft proposes that banks maintain details of the location of cultivated land, crops grown and hypothecation of crops, wherever applicable, while verifying gold-backed agricultural loans.
It also proposes that sanctioned loan amounts be determined on the basis of the applicable scale of finance and an assessment of borrowers’ agricultural credit requirements, rather than solely on the type or value of collateral.
Banks would additionally be required to maintain records of field visits by officials to monitor the end use of loans.
For landless agricultural labourers and sharecroppers without land records or lease deeds, banks would have to maintain alternative verifiable documents to establish their eligibility for priority sector lending classification.
The RBI has invited comments on the draft directions until November 26.
