Clearing Process
Clearing Process
Clearing Process
Clearing house
The place where the exchange of instruments occurs and the claims are settled. It is a voluntary association of banks under the management of a bank where the settlement accounts are maintained. Wherever RBI has its office (and a banking department), the clearing house is managed by it. In the absence of an office of the RBI, the clearing house is managed by the State Bank of India, its associate banks and in a few cases by public sector banks.
The clearing infrastructure is designed to address the movement of instruments between the presenting and drawee branches. Each member bank is represented in the clearing house by its service branch which collects all the instruments from various branches and consolidates them for presentation to all the banks in the clearing house. Similarly, it receives and distributes among its branches all the instruments drawn upon its branches by other banks in the clearing house.
Settlement of Funds
The settlement of funds in clearing occurs at several levels. The aggregate amount or value of cheques presented by a bank on other banks represents the claim by that bank on other banks. Similar claims are made by all the banks on every other bank in the clearing. A net settlement is arrived at the clearing house and the debit or credit position of the bank is determined. These are booked in their current accounts maintained by the settling bank. This represents the inter- bank settlement.
The settlement of funds between the service branch and the branch concerned represents the transfer of funds to the branch level. The payment process is completed only when the funds are debited from the drawer's account and credited to the payee's account. This occurs after the completion of the return clearing mentioned earlier