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Somebody paid you with a cheque and the bank sent it back. You are owed the money and you have been told there is a deadline, and probably not much more than that. This page is the sequence: which clock is running, the date it counts from, what to gather, the mistake that spoils otherwise good cases, and an honest answer on whether any of it is worth your time.
The 30 days runs from the bank's return memo — not from the date written on the cheque, and not from when you found out. Find that slip before you read any further. Its date is the only date that matters right now.
A bounced cheque under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act runs on three windows, one after another. Each starts on a different event, and mixing them up is how people lose a case they should have won.
Counted from the date of the bank's return memo — not the date on the cheque.
This is the one that ends things. Let it pass and the criminal route under Section 138 closes, whatever the merits are. It is also the window people discover late, because nothing tells you it started.
Proviso (b) to Section 138, Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
Counted from the day they RECEIVE your notice — not the day you post it. This is why the acknowledgement card matters.
Pay inside this window and the offence does not arise. A large share of these end right here, which is the entire argument for sending the notice properly and early.
Proviso (c) to Section 138, Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
Counted from the end of their payment window above — it does not open before then.
Short, and it opens on a date you can predict. Find and brief an advocate while their payment window is still running, not after it closes.
Section 142(1)(b) NI Act, 1881; venue per Section 142(2)(a) (2015 amendment — payee's bank branch)
Chasing them does not pause any of this. Phone calls, promises, a part payment, a meeting where they apologise — none of it stops the first clock. It keeps running from the return memo while the conversation goes on.
Whether you write the notice yourself, buy one, or brief an advocate, these are what anybody will ask you for first.
The bank's return memo
The slip or advice your bank issues when the cheque is dishonoured — sometimes called the cheque return memo. This is the single most important piece of paper you hold, because the deadline counts from its date. If you banked the cheque through a mobile app and never collected a physical slip, ask the branch for it now.
The cheque itself
The original, not a photo. Note the number, the date written on it, the amount in figures and words, and the account it is drawn on. Keep it safe — do not present it again before reading the advocate section at the bottom of this page.
Proof of what the cheque was FOR
The invoice, the loan record, the agreement, the delivery note, the messages agreeing the amount. A cheque has to answer a real debt, so what the money was owed for is part of the case, not background. If the only thing you have is a cheque and no record of the underlying deal, say so to an advocate before spending anything.
Their correct address
The address a notice can actually be delivered to and acknowledged at. Their registered office if it is a company, the address on the agreement if there is one. A notice that never reaches them is a notice whose clock never starts.
Anything where they admit it
The message saying "will clear it next week", the email agreeing the balance, the call you followed up in writing. It does not change the deadline, but it is the difference between a demand and a demand nobody can pretend is a surprise.
The first one is the trap, and it catches reasonable people precisely because it feels reasonable.
Demanding more than the cheque amount
The demand has to be for the amount of the cheque. Folding your interest, your bank charges and your inconvenience into the sum you demand is the most common way a good case is spoiled (Suman Sethi v. Ajay K. Churiwal, (2000) 2 SCC 380). Ask for the extras separately if you want them; keep the demand itself to the cheque.
Waiting to see if they come good
The most expensive week in this whole process is the one spent hoping. Nothing about sending the notice stops them paying you — it is a demand for payment, and paying is exactly what it asks for. Sending it early costs you nothing and buys back the deadline.
Sending it in a way you cannot prove
A message on WhatsApp is not the record you need. Send it by Registered Post with acknowledgement due, keep the receipt, and keep the card when it comes back. Their payment window runs from when they receive it, so the delivery record is not paperwork — it is the date the next clock starts.
Taking a part payment without asking first
It feels like progress and it can quietly change your position. If they offer part of it, or a schedule, get the offer in writing and take advice before you accept anything or agree to hold the notice back.
Guessing the address
An old address, a home address for a company debt, a flat they moved out of. If it does not reach them, everything downstream is harder. Spend the ten minutes finding the right one.
This is the sequence a Section 138 notice sets running, in order. It is the same plan we build for people who buy the notice — the difference is that theirs is dated.
The day you send it — Serve the notice and keep the proof
Send it by Registered Post A.D. and by one instant channel (email or WhatsApp). Photograph the receipt the day you post it — in a §138 case the proof of service matters as much as the notice.
15 days after they receive it — The drawer's window to pay
Drawer has 15 days from receipt of the notice to pay. This clock starts on the day they RECEIVE the notice — not the day you post it — so the date depends on the acknowledgement card coming back.
Proviso (c) to Section 138, Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
The month after that window ends — Window to file the complaint
File the complaint within 1 month after the 15-day payment window ends. It opens only once the payment window above has run out, and it is short — line up a lawyer before it opens, not after.
Section 142(1)(b) NI Act, 1881; venue per Section 142(2)(a) (2015 amendment — payee's bank branch)
Why there are no dates above. They fill in the moment you tell us when the bank returned the cheque — that one date sets every other one. We would rather leave them blank than print a day that is not yours, because the only thing worse than not knowing your deadline is believing a wrong one.
If they do what the notice asks
Once the cheque amount is paid within the 15-day window the §138 offence does not arise. Confirm receipt in writing and close the file.
No Claim / No Dues Certificate →If they reply, or offer to settle
If they offer part-payment or a schedule, be careful: accepting less than the cheque amount can affect the §138 route. Record whatever you agree in writing and take advice before giving up the notice.
Mutual Settlement Agreement (pre-court) →If they ignore you
This is the case the statute was written for. Keep the returned cheque, the bank's return memo, this notice and the proof of service together — a lawyer needs all four to file.
It is the most common question people ask about this, and it usually means: the court route sounds long and expensive, so is the whole thing a waste of my time? That is a fair worry and the honest answer has two halves.
The expensive route is not the one most of these end on. A great many are settled once the other side realises it has stopped being an argument between two people. The formal notice is where that realisation usually happens — it is the cheapest step in the whole sequence, it is the one the law asks for first, and it is the one that most often makes the rest unnecessary.
And a notice is not a guarantee. Someone with no money to pay you will still have no money after receiving one. What it reliably does is put a dated, formal demand on the record inside the window, which keeps every later option open — and closing off your own options by doing nothing is the only outcome here that is certain.
| Route | Cost | Time | What it gets you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calling and messaging them yourself | Free | Weeks, usually | Sometimes it works, and if it is going to work it has probably worked already. It does nothing about the deadline, which keeps running while you chase. |
| A formal demand notice | ₹299 to draft and send yourself · ₹799 if we print it, post it by Registered Post with acknowledgement and send you the tracking | Same day to draft; delivery in days | The step the law requires before anything else, sent inside the 30-day window, with a dated record. Starts their 15-day window to pay. |
| An advocate drafting the same notice | Commonly several thousand rupees for this one step | Days, depending on their diary | The same document with a professional behind it. Worth it when the amount is large or the facts are contested — see the last section. |
| A Section 138 complaint in court | Advocate fees over a long engagement | Long, and everyone in this situation says so | The route with teeth. It exists, it is used, and most people who look at it honestly would rather have been paid at the notice stage. |
You can write it yourself — everything above is what a correct one has to contain, and the demand must be for the cheque amount. If you would rather not, we build it from your cheque, your return memo and your dates, serve-ready, in your own name: ₹299 to download and post yourself, or ₹799 and we print it, post it by Registered Post with acknowledgement, and email you the tracking number — which matters here more than in most disputes, because their 15-day window starts when they receive it.
You see the full draft before you pay anything. We are a document service, not a law firm.
We would rather say this than sell you the wrong thing. Take proper advice if:
For the ordinary case — a clear debt, one dishonour, a return memo with a recent date — the first step is the same one an advocate would start with, and you can take it today.
Agreements.co.in provides legal information, not legal advice. This guide describes general procedure under the Negotiable Instruments Act and is not a substitute for an advocate advising on your own documents and dates. Nothing here should be relied on to decide whether a right of yours has expired — if a deadline may have passed, take advice rather than a guess.