⌖  Utility  /  Bank & Industry Codes

MICR Codes.

9-digit Magnetic Ink Character Recognition codes printed on Indian cheques.

As of

RBI MICR directory — current

⌖ Context

Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) is a 9-digit code printed on the MICR band at the bottom of every Indian cheque. The structure is: first 3 digits — city code (PIN-aligned); next 3 — bank code; last 3 — branch code. MICR enables high-speed cheque processing through the Cheque Truncation System (CTS). With CTS-2010 making cheques near-uniform across banks, MICR remains the routing identifier for paper instruments — but it is no longer used for electronic transfers (NEFT/RTGS/IMPS use IFSC).

⌖ Source

Reserve Bank of India — master directory

Live source
01

City code component — major cities (first 3 digits)

CityCode
Mumbai400
Delhi110
Kolkata700
Chennai600
Bangalore560
Hyderabad500
Ahmedabad380
Pune411
Surat395
Jaipur302
Lucknow226
Kanpur208
Nagpur440
Indore452
Bhopal462
Patna800
Chandigarh160
Coimbatore641
Kochi682
Vadodara390
Visakhapatnam530
Thiruvananthapuram695
Guwahati781
Bhubaneswar751

City code typically aligns with the first 3 digits of the city's PIN code.

02

Bank code component — major banks (middle 3 digits)

BankMICR Bank Code
State Bank of India002
Punjab National Bank024
Bank of Baroda012
Bank of India013
Canara Bank015
Union Bank of India018
Central Bank of India016
HDFC Bank240
ICICI Bank229
Axis Bank211
Kotak Mahindra Bank485
IndusInd Bank234
Yes Bank532
IDBI Bank259
Federal Bank049
RBL Bank267
Standard Chartered036
Citibank037

Branch code (last 3 digits) is unique to each branch — refer to the cheque book or the RBI master to identify a specific branch.

03

Find any MICR code

The full MICR master is published by RBI alongside the IFSC directory. Your printed cheque book is the simplest source — the 9-digit MICR sits between the cheque number and the account number on the bottom band.

04

MICR vs IFSC — when does which apply

MICR — used for cheque clearing under CTS. Printed on the cheque band.

IFSC — used for electronic transfers (NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, UPI back-end routing).

Both codes coexist for every bank branch. MICR is still required for cheque deposits but is irrelevant for online transfers.