Banking Guide

How to Write a Cheque Correctly: The 6 Steps and the Errors That Bounce Cheques

To write a cheque: (1) write the date in the DDMMYYYY boxes, (2) write the payee's full name on the Pay line and strike out "or bearer" for safety, (3) write the amount in words starting at the left edge, ending with "Only", (4) write the matching amount in figures ending with "/-", (5) cross the top-left corner with two lines and "A/c Payee" for account-only payment, (6) sign exactly as per your bank specimen. No overwriting anywhere: CTS-era banks reject altered cheques, so a mistake means cancelling the leaf and starting fresh.

The 6 steps in detail

Date (top right)

Fill the eight boxes DDMMYYYY, e.g. 15072026 for 15 July 2026. The cheque is payable from this date and valid 3 months from it. A future date makes it a post-dated cheque. The boxed grid format is designed to make date tampering visible — a digit written over another is obvious in a small box. The most common date error is the year: in the first week of January, people reflexively write the previous year, which either makes the cheque stale immediately (if the previous year is more than 3 months ago) or creates a confusing instrument. Write the date deliberately, not reflexively. See the post-dated cheque guide.

Payee name (the "Pay" line)

Write the full legal name of the person or business, spelled exactly as their bank account holds it: "Sharma Enterprises Private Limited", not "Sharma Ent". A name mismatch at deposit is a common return reason for account payee cheques. Draw a line through the leftover space after the name so nothing can be appended. Strike out the printed "or bearer" unless you deliberately want a bearer instrument. The strike-through of "or bearer" is the single most important security step at writing time — it converts the cheque from payable-to-anyone to payable-only-to-the-named-payee. Skipping it out of haste is the most common security lapse on handwritten cheques. See the bearer cheque guide.

Amount in words (the "Rupees" line)

Start at the extreme left. Write the amount in words followed by "Only": "One Lakh Twenty Five Thousand Only". If there are paise: "Five Hundred Rupees and Fifty Paise Only". Strike through the unused space. "Only" and the strike-through both exist to block insertion fraud — without "Only", someone could append "and Fifty Thousand" to a smaller amount; without the strike-through, they could append digits in the blank space. Both are one-second acts that close two distinct fraud vectors. Use the Indian numbering convention (Lakh, Crore), not Western (hundred thousand, million) — banks accept both but the Indian convention is standard and avoids any ambiguity.

Amount in figures (the ₹ box)

Write tight against the ₹ symbol with Indian comma grouping and close with "/-": ₹1,25,000/-. The "/-" blocks digits being appended after your amount. Words and figures MUST match; where they differ, Section 18 of the NI Act says the amount in words prevails, but in practice banks simply return the cheque as "amount in words and figures differ" rather than honoring the words. The Indian comma grouping (1,25,000 not 125,000) matters because a teller or clearing scanner reading the Western grouping may misparse the amount, and the mismatch with the words (which use the Indian convention) triggers a return. Write the figures in a clear, unambiguous hand — a 3 that looks like an 8, or a 0 that looks like a 6, is a return waiting to happen.

Crossing (top left)

Two parallel lines across the corner, and write "A/c Payee" between them for the strongest protection: the money can then only reach the named payee's own bank account. Skip crossing only for cheques meant for counter cash (self cheques). Crossing restricts HOW the cheque is paid (account only, not counter cash); account payee crossing additionally restricts WHO (only the named payee's account). The two protections stack — an uncrossed cheque can be encashed by anyone bearing it, a crossed cheque must be deposited into an account, and an account payee crossed cheque must be deposited into the named payee's account specifically. For any business payment, account payee crossing is the default. See the crossed cheque guide.

Signature (bottom right)

Sign above your printed name exactly as your specimen signature held by the bank. Do not sign in the MICR band area at the bottom — the magnetic ink strip is read by clearing scanners, and a signature crossing into it corrupts the read and returns the cheque. If your signature has evolved over the years, update your specimen at the bank before it starts causing "signature differs" returns. For company accounts, follow the mandate: single or joint signatories, with the rubber stamp if the mandate requires it. A signature that does not match the specimen is one of the top return reasons, and it is entirely under the drawer's control — sign deliberately, in the same way every time, and if your signature has drifted, fix the specimen rather than hoping the teller will be lenient.

Quick reference for the amounts people get wrong:

₹1,00,000 = One Lakh Only
₹1,50,000 = One Lakh Fifty Thousand Only
₹10,00,000 = Ten Lakh Only
₹1,00,00,000 = One Crore Only
₹2,25,750 = Two Lakh Twenty Five Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty Only

(Use "Lakh", not "Lakhs", by convention; banks accept both.)

The no-overwriting rule (the one that surprises everyone)

Under CTS-2010 clearing practice, banks do not accept cheques with material alterations, even alterations countersigned by the drawer. Corrected payee names, corrected amounts, and overwritten dates all get the cheque returned. (Banks retain minor tolerance on date corrections with a full authenticating signature, but many reject even that; treat every field as write-once.) The reason is structural, not pedantic: the Cheque Truncation System replaced physical cheque movement with electronic images, and those images make any alteration visible to the drawee bank's verifier. A corrected field that might have passed in the era of physical clearing is now obvious on a high-resolution scan.

The CTS-2010 standard was introduced in 2013 to speed up clearing and reduce fraud. Before CTS, physical cheques traveled from the collecting bank to the drawee bank, and a teller at the drawee bank would inspect each cheque by hand — alterations could sometimes be authenticated at the counter with a signature. Under CTS, the collecting bank captures an image of the cheque and transmits it electronically; the physical leaf stays with the collecting bank. The drawee bank sees only the image, and any alteration that is visible on the image is grounds for return. The standard also embedded security features (watermark, void pantograph, UV ink) that make tampering and counterfeiting far harder — which is why pre-CTS cheque books are no longer accepted in clearing at all.

So the operating rule is simple: one mistake anywhere = cancel the leaf, take the next one. Write CANCELLED across the spoiled leaf, log its number, move on. See the cheque leaf guide. The cost of a spoiled leaf (one leaf of your free quota, or a few rupees if you are past it) is trivial compared to the cost of a returned cheque (return charges, delay, credibility hit with the payee). Treat the leaf as write-once and the rule stops feeling restrictive — it becomes a habit.

The 10 errors that actually get cheques returned

Amount in words and figures differ — the single most common return. A mismatch means the bank cannot determine the intended amount with certainty, so it returns the cheque rather than guessing. Entirely mechanical and entirely preventable: if you print, the software generates both from the same input.

Signature differs from the specimen — the bank compares the signature on the cheque to the specimen it holds. A signature that has drifted over the years, was signed in a hurry, or was signed by an unauthorized person triggers this return. The fix is to update your specimen at the bank if your signature has genuinely changed, and to sign deliberately every time.

Overwriting or visible alteration in any field — under CTS, the clearing image makes alterations visible to the drawee bank. Even a correction countersigned by the drawer is typically rejected. One mistake means cancel the leaf and start fresh.

Stale cheque (presented more than 3 months after its date) — the 3-month validity window is calculated from the date on the cheque. A cheque written in January and presented in May is stale. The payee must track the presentation window; the drawer must ensure funds are available throughout it. See the cheque validity guide.

Post-dated cheque presented early — a PDC dated next month cannot be paid this month. The bank returns it as "post-dated", which is a technical return (not a dishonour), but it still costs return charges and a wasted clearing cycle. See PDC guide.

Payee name misspelled vs the payee's account name — "Sharma Enterprises" deposited into an account held as "Sharma Enterprises Private Limited" may be returned. The name on the cheque must match the name on the payee's bank account closely enough for the collecting bank to credit it.

Unsigned cheque (more common than you would think, especially in bulk signing sessions) — a cheque leaves the drawer's desk without a signature, often because it was set aside for signing later and then dispatched by mistake. The bank cannot pay an unsigned instrument under any circumstances.

"Or bearer" left intact on a cheque meant to be secure, refused by the collecting bank's risk rules for large third-party deposits — the collecting bank may refuse to accept a large bearer cheque for deposit into a third-party account because of the fraud risk, even though the instrument is legally valid.

Missing Positive Pay submission on ₹5 lakh+ cheques — for high-value cheques, the drawer must submit PPS details (cheque number, date, amount, payee) to the bank before presentation. A mismatch or a missing submission returns the cheque, protecting against altered or counterfeit instruments. See PPS guide.

Insufficient balance on the date of presentation, the classic bounce with Section 138 consequences — the drawer must maintain sufficient balance on the presentation date. A bounce for insufficient funds triggers the statutory notice process and, if unresolved, criminal liability under Section 138 of the NI Act. See the cheque bounce guide.

Every one of these costs return charges (₹100 to ₹750 depending on bank and side), a day or more of delay, and in business contexts, credibility. The frustrating part is that all ten are mechanical — none require judgment, only care. A business that prints its cheques eliminates the first eight structurally (the software does not allow words/figures mismatch, does not allow overwriting, does not forget signatures, does not leave "or bearer" intact) and manages the last two (Positive Pay submission and balance) through the register and reports.

Writing cheques at business volume: the arithmetic of error

Handwriting one careful cheque takes 2 to 3 minutes. Handwriting 100 a month takes an afternoon, and even at a 97 percent accuracy rate, 3 cheques come back or get spoiled, each costing a leaf, return charges, and a follow-up cycle with the payee. Scale that to 500 cheques a month — a mid-sized business with vendor payments, payroll, statutory dues and expense reimbursements — and you are looking at 15 spoiled or returned cheques a month, each one a phone call, a reissue, and a delay that ripples through the payee's books.

The error rate is not a function of care; it is a function of volume. A person who writes 10 cheques a month can be careful on each one. A person who writes 100 cannot maintain the same focus on cheque 87 as on cheque 1 — fatigue sets in, the hand slips, a digit is miswritten, a signature drifts. The arithmetic is unforgiving: even a 1 percent error rate on 500 cheques is 5 returns a month, and 1 percent is better than most humans achieve on repetitive handwriting tasks over a full afternoon.

This entire error class is mechanical, which is why businesses print instead: ChequeGuru takes the payee, amount and date as data, converts the amount to words automatically (so words and figures can never differ), prints the crossing, and lays everything onto your bank's leaf format through a normal printer. Batch mode prints a whole payment run in minutes, and every cheque lands in the register with its number. See the batch printing guide. The shift from handwriting to printing is not about speed alone — it is about moving the error rate from "depends on the writer's focus on cheque 87" to "structurally zero on the mechanical errors," which is a categorically different reliability profile.

The register is the other half of the value. A handwritten cheque leaves the desk and disappears until it clears or bounces — there is no central record of what was written, when, to whom, for how much, or whether it was cancelled and reissued. A printed cheque is logged at print time: the register knows the cheque number, the payee, the amount, the date, the print job, and the status (printed, issued, presented, cleared, bounced, cancelled). When a payee calls to ask "where is my cheque," the answer is a lookup, not a search through a desk drawer. When the auditor asks for the cheque register at year-end, it is a report, not a reconstruction. See the print cheque guide.

Frequently asked questions

How do I write 1 lakh on a cheque?

Words: "One Lakh Only". Figures: ₹1,00,000/-. Start the words at the left edge and strike through the remaining space. The Indian comma grouping uses lakhs and crores (1,00,000), not the Western million grouping (100,000) — using the wrong grouping is a common reason for return.

Can I correct a mistake on a cheque by overwriting and signing?

No. CTS-era banks reject altered cheques. Cancel the leaf and write a fresh one. The no-overwriting rule exists because CTS clearing images make alterations visible to the drawee bank, and a corrected field is an open invitation to dispute whether the correction was authorized. The clean rule — no corrections, ever — removes the ambiguity entirely.

Should I write "or bearer" or strike it out?

Strike it out for all payments where security matters, which is nearly all of them. Leave it only for deliberate bearer instruments. See the bearer cheque guide. Striking "or bearer" converts the cheque from a bearer instrument (payable to anyone who presents it) to an order instrument (payable only to the named payee with ID), which is the single most important security step you can take at writing time.

What pen should I use for writing a cheque?

Blue or black ballpoint or gel. Never pencil, never erasable ink. Consistent ink across all fields (a cheque with two ink colors invites alteration suspicion). The pen should be fine enough that digits are crisp and unambiguous — a broad tip that makes 3 look like 8 is a return waiting to happen. Gel pens are preferred by many because they do not smudge as easily as ballpoints.

What happens if amount in words and figures do not match?

Legally the words prevail (NI Act Section 18); practically the bank returns the cheque. Rewrite it. The mismatch is the single most common reason cheques are returned, and it is entirely mechanical — which is why printing software that generates both words and figures from the same input eliminates it structurally.

Is a cheque valid without the payee's name?

A blank-payee signed cheque is an incomplete and dangerous instrument; whoever holds it can fill any name. Never issue one. For sharing account details, use a cancelled cheque instead. See the cancelled cheque guide. A signed blank-payee cheque is the cheque equivalent of a signed blank cheque — it is a negotiable instrument waiting to be completed by whoever holds it.

How long is my written cheque valid?

3 months from the date on the cheque. After that it is stale and the bank will return it unpaid. The 3-month window is calculated from the date written on the cheque, not from the day it was handed over — so a post-dated cheque dated a month ahead has its validity clock start a month from now.

Do I need to write my account number or phone number on the cheque?

No, your account details are printed. On the BACK, banks sometimes ask the DEPOSITOR to write their account number and phone when depositing; as the writer, add nothing extra to the face. Writing extra details on the face of the cheque is both unnecessary and a minor security risk — it clutters the instrument and can look like an alteration.

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