Recovery · Template
A dishonoured cheque is the rare commercial dispute where the law hands you a criminal remedy — and takes it away again if you miss a date. Three clocks run: thirty days to send this notice, fifteen days the drawer then gets to pay, and one month after that to file. Miss the first one and the cheque is just paper.
Quick Statutory Answer
How long do I have to send a cheque bounce notice? Thirty days from the receipt of information from the bank that the cheque has been returned unpaid, under proviso (b) to s. 138. That is the date on your side of the transaction — not the date on the cheque and not the date you presented it — and missing it removes the criminal remedy for that dishonour.
The full text of this document as VidhiSar drafts it, with every blank shown in square brackets. Copy it or download it as a Word file and fill it in yourself — or answer a few questions and VidhiSar fills it in and prints a formatted PDF. Clauses that apply only in some cases are left out here; the drafting flow adds them when your answers call for them.
NOTICE DETAILS
Date: [Date of This Notice]
BY REGISTERED POST WITH ACKNOWLEDGEMENT DUE AND BY EMAIL
To, [Drawer's Name] [Drawer's Address]
From, [Your Name / Business Name] [Your Address]
Subject: Statutory notice of demand under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 in respect of dishonour of cheque no. [Cheque Number] for Rs. [Cheque Amount]
BACKGROUND
1. Underlying Liability. You are liable to pay our client the sum stated below on account of [What the Money Was Owed For]. This liability is a legally enforceable debt subsisting on the date the cheque referred to below was drawn.
2. The Cheque. In discharge of that liability, you drew and delivered cheque no. [Cheque Number] dated [Date on the Cheque] for Rs. [Cheque Amount], drawn on [Drawer's Bank and Branch], in favour of [Your Name / Business Name].
3. Presentation. The said cheque was presented for encashment through [Your Bank] on [Date of Presentation], within the period of its validity.
4. Dishonour. The said cheque was returned unpaid, and we received the return memo of the bank dated [Date of Bank Return Memo] recording the reason for dishonour as "[Reason for Dishonour on the Memo]". This notice is issued within thirty (30) days of receipt of that information from the bank, as required by the proviso to Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.
DEMAND
5. Demand for Payment. You are hereby called upon to pay the sum of Rs. [Cheque Amount] to [Your Name / Business Name] within fifteen (15) days of receipt of this notice, by demand draft or by electronic transfer to the account notified to you.
6. Consequence of Non-Payment. Should you fail to make payment of the said amount within the said period of fifteen (15) days, our client shall be constrained to initiate criminal proceedings against you under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, which is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to twice the amount of the cheque, or with both. Such complaint shall be filed within one month of the date on which the cause of action arises under clause (c) of the proviso to Section 138, as provided by Section 142 of the said Act.
7. Interim Compensation. Your attention is drawn to Section 143A of the said Act, under which the court trying an offence under Section 138 may order the drawer to pay interim compensation of up to twenty per cent of the amount of the cheque, and to Section 148, under which an appellate court may require a deposit of a minimum of twenty per cent of the fine or compensation awarded.
8. Civil Remedies Reserved. Our client expressly reserves the right to recover the said amount together with interest and costs by way of civil proceedings, and the right to any other remedy available in law. Nothing in this notice shall be construed as a waiver of any such right.
9. Costs of This Notice. You shall additionally be liable for the costs of and incidental to this notice and to any proceedings arising out of it.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
A copy of this notice has been retained for record, along with proof of dispatch and the bank's return memo.
[Signatory Name] For and on behalf of [Your Name / Business Name]
What the law behind this document actually requires.
| Essential Clause | Legal Purpose & Protection | Governing Law / Benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| The underlying legally enforceable debt | Section 138 protects a cheque issued in discharge of a debt or other liability. Say what the money was for. A cheque given as a gift, or against a liability that has ceased to be enforceable, does not attract the section. | Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 — s. 138 |
| The full particulars of the cheque | Number, date, amount and the bank it was drawn on. These are the facts the complaint will be built from, and an error here is repeated in every document that follows. | Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 — s. 142 |
| The date of presentation, showing it was within validity | A cheque presented after its validity period has expired does not give rise to the offence, so the notice should show on its face that presentation was in time. | Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 — ss. 143A and 148 |
| The date you received the bank’s return memo, and the reason recorded on it | This is the date the thirty-day clock runs from — not the date on the cheque, and not the date of presentation. It is the single most important date in the document. | Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 — s. 138 |
| An unambiguous demand for the cheque amount, and fifteen days to pay it | Demand the cheque amount clearly and on its own. Rolling interest, damages and legal costs into one composite figure has repeatedly been litigated as a failure to make a valid demand for the cheque amount, which is what the section requires. | Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 — s. 142 |
| Service at the correct address, by a method that leaves proof | Registered post with acknowledgement due to the drawer’s last known address, with the dispatch record kept. Service is a fact you will have to prove, and an undelivered notice sent to a stale address is a defence handed over free. | Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 — ss. 143A and 148 |
| The consequence, stated plainly | That a complaint under s. 138 will follow if payment is not made within the fifteen days. The notice is a demand with a stated consequence; leaving the consequence out weakens both its legal and its practical effect. | Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 — s. 138 |
Thirty days from the receipt of information from the bank that the cheque has been returned unpaid, under proviso (b) to s. 138. That is the date on your side of the transaction — not the date on the cheque and not the date you presented it — and missing it removes the criminal remedy for that dishonour.
Then the offence is not complete and no complaint lies. Payment within the statutory window is a complete answer to a s. 138 case, which is exactly what the notice period is for — it gives the drawer a final chance and gives you a clean record of having offered it.
Yes. The s. 138 proceeding is criminal and results in a fine or compensation; recovering the debt itself through a civil suit is a separate remedy with its own limitation period. Reserve the civil remedy expressly in the notice so nothing you write is read as giving it up.
It turns on whether a legally enforceable debt or liability existed when the cheque was presented. A security cheque backing a live liability is generally within the section; one given against a liability that never arose, or that had already ceased to be enforceable, is contested ground and is decided on the facts of the transaction.
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