Dubai: On September 27, 2020, President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued a federal decree law, amending some of the articles and clauses in the federal law that deals with cases of issuing of cheques and bounced cheques – Federal Law No. (18) of 1993 Concerning the Commercial Transaction Law.
What are the changes to the laws governing bounced cheques and how will they affect the payer and the payee of a cheque that is dishonoured? Here is all you need to know.
While Federal Decree Law No. (14) of 2020 is quite detailed in the amendments that will be made to certain provisions of the Commercial Transaction Law, Gulf News spoke to legal experts to find out what the biggest changes are to the laws governing bounced cheques, that will affect the majority of the UAE’s residents.
Partial payment of cheques
One of the biggest amendments announced has been related to the option for partial payments of cheques. While earlier a cheque would bounce if the complete amount to honour it was not available in the cheque writer’s account, after the amendments are implemented, banks will be required to fulfil partial amounts of the cheque as well.
Stricter penalties for writing bounced cheques
“Any person convicted with issuing cheques without sufficient balance will be deprived from getting cheque books from the banks for a period of five years. Also, they will need to pay a fine of not less than 10 per cent of the cheque amount – with a minimum of Dh5,000 and a maximum of twice the amount of the cheque – or imprisonment of six months to two years,” Abeer said.
A bounced cheque is considered an ‘executive deed’
“A cheque, which bears the drawee’s stamp as non-paid for unavailable or insufficient fund, shall constitute an executive instrument as per the Executive Regulation of the Federal Law No. (11) of 1992 and its bearer shall have the right to demand the coercive enforcement, wholly or partially,” according to the Article.
What does it mean to consider a bounced cheque as an ‘executive instrument’?
“The cheque holder does not have to issue a claim and go through proceedings in order to claim the amount of the bounced cheque. He or she can simply approach the executive judge, present the cheque and ask for the execution of the assets or bank accounts of the person who issued the cheque,” Abeer said.