Cheque bounce notice under Section 138 — what it must say
Once a cheque given to you has bounced, everything depends on one document going out in time: the demand notice. People often send a casual "please pay" message and assume that is enough. It usually is not. The notice has specific work to do, and if it is weak or late, the straightforward legal route can be lost.
What the notice has to establish
A demand notice is not only a request for money. It has to set out clearly:
- The cheque details: number, date, amount, and the bank.
- That it was presented and returned unpaid, with the date and the bank's reason.
- That the amount is a legally enforceable debt, meaning real money genuinely owed.
- A clear demand to pay within 15 days of receiving the notice.
And it has to reach the person who gave you the cheque within 30 days of the bank telling you it bounced. If the timing or any of these parts is wrong, the other side can attack the case later.
Why the wording of the notice matters
If the matter goes to court, the notice is read closely. A missing part or a vague demand becomes the gap the other side argues through. This is exactly the kind of document where careful drafting is the whole point.
What Miss Lucy Lite can do
Miss Lucy Lite can explain what the notice needs and check that you are within the deadline, and she can write the demand notice for you as a finished document, with the correct contents, the right deadline and wording that holds up.
Tell Miss Lucy Lite your dates and she will tell you how much time you have left.
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