Finance Committee endorses amendments to Banking Offence and Punishment Act

KATHMANDU: The Finance Committee today endorsed the Bill to amend the Banking Offence and Punishment Act-2064 BS (2008) with amendments.

Committee President Santosh Chalise confirmed that a meeting of the committee today passed the Bill with amendments. The meeting agreed on a provision stipulating two to four years' imprisonment for a cheque bounce above Rs 100 million.

Previously, 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 Rs 1.5 million to 50 million, three months to one year for Rs 50 million to 10 million, and up to a year for a due amount above Rs 10 million.

However, in today's meeting, some lawmakers demanded an increase in the period of imprisonment for a cheque bounce exceeding Rs 10 million, and their concerns were addressed.

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

The government recognised the need to amend the Act, considering the necessity for different legal treatment of cheque bounce cases, the Supreme Court's order to maintain uniformity in the legal approach to such cases, and the assessment of the Office of the Attorney General.

The Bill mandates that an account holder must not issue a cheque without sufficient deposits in the account.

The Bill proposes that if the account holder does not have sufficient deposits in the bank for payment as demanded by a cheque, such cheque should be returned to the bearer. If the bearer wants to prove it is a case of cheque bounce, the respective bank should inform the account holder to ensure the deposits are sufficient for the payment demanded by the cheque within 30 days.

It stipulates that any account holder must not issue a cheque requesting payment exceeding the deposit amount. The procedures to establish a case of cheque bounce will be initiated if the demanded amount is not deposited in the bank within the next 30 days.

After 30 days, if the bearer again presents the cheque requesting payment and the necessary amount is not available in the account, the bank must return the cheque within three days, officially declaring it a case of cheque bounce.

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