Cheque books of 3 banks are going to be invalid from October 1. Check details

The changes in cheque book rules is being implemented due to merger of banks. There were as many as 27 public sector banks (PSBs) in 2017. After the merger, the total number of public sector banks in the country came down from 18 to 12.

The account holders of two banks will have to get their cheque books changed or updated as they will stop working from October 1. The nationalised banks in which these two banks have merged have informed the users about the changes on Twitter.

The Allahabad Bank was merged with Indian Bank on April 1, 2020,(HT File Photo)

The banks whose cheque books will stop working from October 1 are Allahabad Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and United Bank of India. These three banks are now part of other banks.

While Allahabad Bank merged with Indian Bank on April 1, 2020, Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and United Bank of India were amalgamated into Punjab National Bank (PNB) on April 1, 2019.

Both PNB and Indian Bank have informed their customers who got their accounts transferred from the three banks, to get new cheque books.

In a tweet in August, Indian Bank said that cheque books of the erstwhile Allahabad Bank will be valid only till September 30, 2021. The MICR codes of that bank will also become invalid from October 1, the tweet further said.

The bank customers were asked to get the new cheque book from the nearest branch. The users can also apply through internet banking or mobile banking.

The PNB also tweeted earlier this month asking the account holders of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank to replace their old cheque books as soon as possible.

Apart from these, four other public sector banks were also merged into anchor banks under government's mega consolidation plan.

Under the plan, Syndicate Bank was merged into Canara Bank, and Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank into Union Bank of India.

Following the consolidation, PNB has become the country's second largest after State Bank of India (SBI), Canara Bank fourth, Union Bank of India fifth and Indian Bank seventh biggest public sector lender.