Reserve Bank Of India Has Not Banned The Use Of Black Ink On Cheques.

Recently a message went viral on social media claiming that the Reserve Bank Of India had issued new rules prohibiting the use of black inks on cheques. The social media post reads, “🚨NEW YEAR, NEW RULES: 

BLACK INK BANNED ON CHEQUES 🖋️🚫 

Mumbai, January 14, 2025: In a move aimed at enhancing security features and preventing fraudulent activities, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that cheques written in black ink will no longer be accepted from January 1st, 2025.

As per the new guidelines, cheques must be written in blue or green ink to be considered valid. The RBI has taken this step to prevent tampering and alteration of cheques, which has been a significant concern in recent years.

The new rule applies to all types of cheques, including personal, business, and government cheques. Banks have been instructed to reject any cheques written in black ink.

Note ;

🔴RED  PEN  FOR   BANKERS   &   STAFF

🔵BLUE  &🟢GREEN  FOR  PUBLIC  /   CUSTOMERS

⚫BLACK  IS  BANED, NOW   TOTALLY   ON CHEQUES”

Facebook Link | Archived Link.

However, as we investigated, we came to know that the claim is. RBI has not issued any guidelines for the colour of ink on cheques. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check 

At the beginning of our investigation, we searched the official website of the Reserve Bank of India, but couldn’t find any new notification regarding the prohibition of black ink on cheques.

Moving forward, using relevant keywords, we found a notification in the FAQ section of the RBI website published on 31 October 2022. The question in serial number 8 reads, “What care should be taken by customers while writing cheques?” The answer to this was written as, “There are three images of each cheque that are taken in CTS – front Gray Scale, front Black and White and back Black and White. Customers should use image friendly coloured ink to write cheques to facilitate clear image of written information. Further, customer should use permanent ink to prevent fraudulent alternation of contents later. However, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has not prescribed specific ink colors to be used to writing cheques.

Customer should also be aware that cheques with alteration / modification are not accepted under CTS. No changes / corrections can be carried out on the cheques (other than for date validation purposes, if required). For any change in the payee’s name, courtesy amount (amount in figures) or legal amount (amount in words), fresh cheque leaves should be used by customers. This would help banks in identifying and controlling fraudulent alterations.”

Please read here. Archived Link.

Further, we found a tweet from “PIB Fact Check” that refuted the viral claim. 

This makes it clear that the claim is false.

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the viral claim is false. The  Reserve Bank Of India has not issued any notification prohibiting the use of black ink on cheques.