What is the difference between general and special crossing of cheque?

Answer 1

A cheque may either be an open cheque or a crossed cheque. An open cheque is fraud prone by unscrupulous persons. It may cause loss to the true owner of the cheque or the banker. In order to prevent such a possibility of fraud, the system of crossing of cheque has been introduced. In other words, crossing has been introduced to prevent wrongful person from obtaining payment of a cheque. To encash a crossed cheque, a payee need to have a bank account or he can endorse it to another person who has an account in a bank. In both of these cases the payee's or the endorsee's identity can be easily established.

Crossing is a direction to the paying banker that it should be paid only through a banker and not across the counter. Crossing is of two types: General Crossing (sec. 123 of NI Act) and Special Crossing (sec. 124 of NI Act)

Two transverse parallel lines across the face of the cheque are compulsory in case of a general crossing. But two transversal lines are not required to in a special crossing. Mere writing a name of a bank across the face of the cheque constitutes special crossing. Here, in a special crossing, the amount of the cheque should be paid only through a specified bank. Thus an additional name of a banker is essential to constitue special crossing.

M.J. SUBRAMANYAM.