Cheques are now valid for 3 months With effect from April 1, 2012 you will have to deposit your cheques, draft or pay order within three months of the issue date of the instrument, instead of the current six months. For your benefit, banks have been asked by the RBI to print or stamp this change in the validity period on cheques and other such relevant instruments that will be issued from April 1, 2012. Post April 1, 2012, banks will not honor cheques, pay orders, drafts and bankers' cheques that are deposited beyond the three-month period. Drafts above Rs 20,000 will have to be A/c payee only To check the flow of black money and eliminate third party scams, RBI has also made it mandatory that all drafts for amounts above Rs 20, 000 will be account payee only. This is done so that the amount is deposited directly into the recipient's account rather than any other third party account. The RBI has also asked banks to ensure that account payee cheques and drafts are only credit