The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed banks to put in place better and more effective security features and field for cheques so that the cheques could be processed directly through optical technology.

The RBI said that the Cheque Truncation System (CTS)-2010 standard and its time line would be announced later. Industry body Indian Bank's Association (IBA) and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) have agreed to assist the banks in bring these features in practice.

Some of the features to be included as recommended by the RBI are quality paper, watermark and printing of bank logos in invisible ink, standard size, clutter-free background, and use of ultra violet images.

The central bank has said that similar cheques across banks would act against cheque frauds. It said that the cheques must have chemical sensitivity to acids, alkalis, bleaches and solvents so that any effort to alter it fraudulently would be noticed easily.

The watermark to be included on the cheques at the time of manufacturing is "CTS-INDIA" which should be visible in any light source and the watermark should be oval in shape and the diameter could be 2.6-3 cm. Each cheque should hold at least one full watermark, according to the central bank.

The cheques also should not glow in ultraviolet light so it looks similar across banks. The bank logos should be printed with UV ink which would be visible under UV-enabled scanners and lamps.