Post-dated cheque
PDC
A post-dated cheque is a cheque dated in the future, which the payee holds and can present for payment only on or after that date.
PDCs are how credit runs through much of Indian wholesale: a buyer takes goods today and hands over cheques dated 30, 60 or 90 days out. A trader's receivables are therefore partly a drawer of paper with dates on it, and the money arrives only if each cheque is deposited on time and clears.
A cheque is valid for three months from the date written on it — the Reserve Bank of India cut validity from six months to three with effect from 1 April 2012. For a post-dated cheque the three months run from that future date, not from the day it was handed over. Present it after that and the bank returns it as stale; present it before its date and the bank will not pay it.
If a cheque given for a debt comes back unpaid for insufficient funds, the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 gives the payee a criminal remedy under section 138 — but only if strict deadlines are kept. That is the practical case for a register: it turns a pile of cheques into a list of dates.
Key facts
- Validity: three months from the date on the cheque (RBI, from 1 April 2012).
- Cannot be paid before the date written on it.
- Dishonour for insufficient funds can found a complaint under NI Act s.138 if written notice goes within 30 days.
- An account payee cheque is not cash for the income-tax cash limits (ss.269ST and 40A(3)).
Who this affects
Wholesalers and distributors who sell on credit and take cheques in advance.
How YarnTally handles it
The cheque register (every plan) holds cheques received and issued through in hand, deposited, cleared, bounced and re-presented, with a deposit diary and a staleness warning against the three-month validity. Clearing a received cheque records the customer's payment exactly once; a bounce reverses it, keeps the history and records bank charges recoverable from the drawer. A customer's bounce count shows on their page and beside their name on the sell screen.
See what else it doesReviewed September 2026. This is general information about how these rules work, not tax or legal advice, and thresholds and due dates do change. Check your own position with your chartered accountant before acting on it.