The Section 138 notice: the clock that decides whether your complaint survives

Cheque bounce complaints fail on dates far more often than on merits. Four periods run back to back, each one a condition for the next, and there is no discretion to cure a missed step by explanation.

The sequence

1. Present the cheque within its period of validity — ordinarily three months from the date it bears.
2. On dishonour, issue the demand notice within thirty days of receiving information of dishonour from the bank.
3. Allow the drawer fifteen days from receipt of the notice to pay.
4. If payment is not made, file the complaint within one month of the expiry of that fifteen-day period.

Where complainants lose it

• Re-presenting the cheque and computing the notice period from the wrong dishonour memo.
• A notice that demands the cheque amount plus interest and costs as a single undifferentiated sum.
• No proof of service, or an address that does not match the record.
• Filing on the fifteenth day rather than after it — the cause of action has not yet arisen.

The bank memo, the notice and the postal receipt are the case. Everything else is argument.

What to keep

The original cheque, the return memo, a copy of the notice, and proof of dispatch and delivery. Assemble the file the week the cheque bounces, not the month before the complaint is due.