Bill to amend Banking Offence Act with revisions passed

KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 9: The Finance Committee today endorsed the Bill to amend the Banking Offence and Punishment Act-2064 BS (2008) with amendments. A meeting of the Committee today passed the Bill with changes, confirmed Committee President Santosh Chalise. The meeting agreed on a provision calling for two to four years of imprisonment in cases where a cheque bounces for amounts above Rs 100 million.

Earlier, the Committee meeting on Sunday agreed on provisions requiring one-month imprisonment for a cheque bounce up to Rs 1.5 million, one to three months if the due amount is between Rs 1.5 million and Rs 50 million, three months to one year for amounts between Rs 50 million and Rs 100 million, and up to one year for a cheque bounce above Rs 10 million. However, in today's meeting, some lawmakers demanded an increase in the period of imprisonment for cheque bounces exceeding Rs 10 million, and their concerns were addressed.

The Council of Ministers, on August 8, 2023, accepted the draft of the Bill, and it was registered in parliament by the then-Finance Minister, Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat, on September 2 of the same year.

The government realized the need to amend the Act, taking into account the necessity for different legal treatment for cheque bounce cases, a Supreme Court order to maintain uniformity in legal approaches to such cases, and an assessment from the Office of the Attorney General.

The Bill mandates that account holders must not issue a cheque without having sufficient deposits in their account. It proposes that if the account holder does not have sufficient funds to cover the cheque, the cheque should be returned to the bearer. If the bearer seeks to prove it as a case of cheque bounce, the respective bank must inform the account holder to ensure sufficient deposits are made within 30 days.

The Bill also stipulates that no account holder should issue a cheque for payment exceeding the available deposit. If the required amount is not deposited within 30 days, the procedures to establish the case of cheque bounce will be initiated. After 30 days, if the bearer presents the cheque again for payment and the necessary funds are still unavailable, the bank must return the cheque within three days, officially declaring it a case of cheque bounce.