Recovery · Free calculator
Enter the bank return date and get every date that matters: notice by, drawer pays by, and the last day to file.
Quick Statutory Answer
Under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881, the legal timeline for a bounced cheque is strictly statutory: the legal demand notice must be dispatched within 30 days of receiving the bank return memo, the drawer gets 15 days from notice delivery to pay, and the criminal complaint under Section 142 must be filed in court within 30 days (1 month) of the 15-day payment window expiring.
| Statutory Step | Governing Provision | Time Limit Allowed | Action Required | Consequence of Missing Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheque Presentation | NI Act s.138 | 3 Months from cheque date | Deposit cheque in bank | Cheque becomes stale; no s.138 remedy |
| Bank Return Memo | NI Act s.138(b) | Immediate on dishonour | Receive memo with reason (e.g. Insufficient Funds) | 30-day limitation clock starts immediately |
| Legal Demand Notice | NI Act s.138 proviso (b) | 30 Days from memo receipt | Issue statutory demand via Speed Post / Regd Post AD | Fatal defect; s.138 criminal remedy barred permanently |
| Payment Grace Window | NI Act s.138 proviso (c) | 15 Days from notice receipt | Drawer allowed to clear cheque amount in full | If paid, no offence; if unpaid, cause of action arises on Day 16 |
| Criminal Complaint Filing | NI Act s.142(1)(b) | 1 Month from cause of action | File criminal complaint before Judicial Magistrate | Time-barred; condonation application required under s.142(1)(b) |
For a dishonoured cheque with bank memo dated 1 February 2026, the mandatory statutory notice must be dispatched within 30 days by 2026-03-03. If served on 5 February 2026, the 15-day payment window expires on 2026-02-20. If payment is not received, the criminal complaint under Section 138 must be filed before the Magistrate by 2026-03-21 (1 month limitation).
Thirty days from receiving information from the bank that the cheque was dishonoured, under proviso (b) to section 138. The period runs from the bank return memo. Missing it ends the section 138 remedy for that presentation, though the underlying debt survives.
After the drawer has failed to pay within 15 days of receiving your demand notice. The cause of action arises on the expiry of those 15 days, and section 142(1)(b) requires the complaint to be filed within one month of that date.
Three months from the date written on it. A cheque presented after that is returned as stale, which is not a dishonour under section 138, so no offence arises and only the civil debt remains.
A cheque may be presented again within its validity period, and a fresh dishonour gives a fresh 30-day notice window. It does not, however, revive a notice period already missed on an earlier dishonour.
Maintains the law explainers, calculators, templates and blog posts on vidhisar.in: checks them against the statute text and updates them when the law changes. Errors and changes in the law can be reported to legal@vidhisar.in.