Cheque Bounce: What the Law Actually Gives You

A dishonoured cheque is one of the few commercial wrongs with a fast, criminal remedy attached. The remedy is strong, but every step runs on a clock, and missing one closes the door.

The sequence

1. The bank returns the cheque with a memo. Keep the original cheque and the memo; the case is built on both.
2. A demand notice must be sent within the prescribed period of the memo, calling on the drawer to pay.
3. The drawer has fifteen days from receipt to pay.
4. If payment does not come, the complaint must be filed within the following month.

Where cases are lost

Almost always on the notice: sent late, sent to the wrong address, or worded so loosely that it does not amount to a demand for the cheque amount. Send it by a mode that produces proof of dispatch and delivery, and keep the tracking record.

What to expect

Many matters settle once the complaint is filed, because the consequences are real. Those that do not are decided on documents more than argument — which is why the paperwork at the start matters more than the advocacy at the end.

Bring us the cheque, the return memo and the underlying invoice, and we will tell you whether the timeline still allows a complaint.