According to section 6 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, a 'cheque' is:

Section 6 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 defines a cheque as a bill of exchange drawn on a specified banker and not expressed to be payable otherwise than on demand, and the proviso extends it to the electronic image of a truncated cheque and to electronic cheques. A cheque differs from an ordinary bill of exchange in that it is always drawn on a banker, and it differs from a promissory note, an unconditional promise to pay, in that a cheque is an order to pay. The definitions in section 4 of a promissory note and in section 5 of a bill of exchange complete the statutory scheme, and an instrument payable otherwise than on demand, or issued by a person other than a banker, is not a cheque within section 6.