What is stop payment of cheque

A stop payment is a formal instruction given by an account holder to their bank to prevent a specific cheque from being processed or honoured. This request must be made before the cheque clears the bank. It is commonly used when a cheque is lost, stolen, or contains errors in the payee's name or amount. Upon receiving the request, the bank flags the cheque number to halt the transaction. Most Indian banks charge a service fee for this facility, typically ranging between ₹100 and ₹500.