It is an offence to issue a cheque without account balance

I had lent Dh10,000 to a friend of mine. I took two post-dated cheques from him as guarantee. The dates he mentioned for returning has now passed. When I asked him, he is telling me different dates. How do I go about collecting the money?
It may be noted that matters pertaining to cheques and promissory notes are dealt with in accordance with the provisions of Chapter III of the Federal Law No 18 of 1993 on the Issuance of the Commercial Transactions Law. In view of the provisions of the Commercial Transactions Law, it may be noted that a cheque may be encashed within a period of six months from the date of issue. We cite Article 618 of the Commercial Transactions Law for your reference in this regard. It is presumed that you lent the money on friendly basis, without any interest to be levied.
"(1) The cheque drawn in or out of the country, and becomes due for payment therein, must be presented for payment within six months.
(2) The period stated in the preceding paragraph shall begin from the date shown in the cheque as the date of issue.
(3)Presentation of the cheque to any of the banks, or reservation by such bank, of its amount by telephone or by cable, with the bank on which it is drawn, as well as presentation of the cheque to any of the clearing rooms recognised by law, shall be considered as being presented for payment."
You have not mentioned if you have executed any agreements with your friend whom you had lent Dh10,000 and you have also not mentioned if the cheques have passed their pay by date of six months.
In the general legal parlance, it may be advised that, if the cheques have not passed their pay-by date, you may elect to present the cheques at the concerned banks. In the event the same get dishonoured, you may initiate appropriate legal proceedings against the individual seeking repayment of the money lent to him.
Even in the event the cheques have passed their pay-by dates, you may still be paid by the concerned drawee/the bank. This is in accordance with the provisions of Article 620 of the Commercial Transactions Law which reads:
"(1) The drawee may pay the cheque even after the expiry of the time fixed for its presentation.
(2) Objection to the payment of the cheque is not acceptable, except in the case of loss or insolvency of its bearer.
(3)The bank shall be obliged to honour the cheque, despite the objection of the drawer, in cases other than the two cases provided for in the preceding paragraph, and the court shall not order stop payment even in the case of action being filed for the principal right."
You may note that dishonour of cheques is also a criminal offence. Pursuant to the same, you may file a complaint at the competent police station. We cite Article 401 of the Federal Law No 3 of 1987 on the Issuance of Penal Code of the UAE for your reference, which states:
"Detention or a fine shall be imposed upon anyone who, in bad faith, gives a draft (cheque) without a sufficient and drawable balance or who, after giving a cheque, withdraws all or part of the balance, making the balance insufficient for settlement of the cheque, or if he orders a drawee not to cash a cheque or makes or signs the cheque in a manner that prevents it from being cashed."
The same penalty shall apply to any one who endorses a cheque in favour of another or gives him a bearer draft, knowing that there is no sufficient balance to honour the cheque or that it is not drawable."
In addition to the above, you also reserve the right to file a civil suit against the person concerned for recovery of money payable to you in respect of the cheques. And in this regard, you may note the period of limitation for filing of suits as such. We cite Article 638 of the Commercial Transactions Law for your reference.
"Upon denial and absence of the legal excuse, the following shall not be heard:
(1)The action for the recourse of the cheque holder, upon the drawee, endorsers, and other obligators for payment of the cheque after the lapse of two years from the period fixed for its presentation.
(2)The action for recourse of the obligators upon each other after the lapse of one year from the day on which the obligator has settled the cheque or from the day of a claim sued by him for settlement.
(3)The action filed by the holder against the drawee after the lapse of three years from the expiry of the period fixed for presentation of the cheque.
(4)The aforesaid periods shall not be applied vis-à-vis the actions against the drawer who has failed to supply the consideration of settlement or if it has been supplied and withdrawn in whole or in part, as well as the actions against all the obligators who have earned illegal income."
You may also consider to take the assistance of a legal practitioner who may aid and advise you further in this regard.
KNOW THE LAW
Objection to the payment of the cheque is not acceptable, except in the case of loss or insolvency of its bearer. The bank shall be obliged to honour the cheque, despite the objection of the drawer.
Card payment not credited
I have made two online transactions through my bank's website on December 9, 2016, and I have received email confirmations stating that my transactions were successful. These were credit card payments for my other bank cards. But a week later, when I received calls from those banks, I came to know that they didn't receive the payments I made through online. Due to this, they have imposed late payment charges (around Dh450) on me.
Then I contacted the customer care department of my bank and as per their advice, I have sent email clearly stating all these points to their helpdesk on December 19. On December 25, I received an email from them stating that my complaint has been highlighted to the concerned department. Since I didn't receive any response after that, I had also send a reminder to them on December 31.
But till date, there is no more response from my bank's side. Now kindly advise me where I should raise this complaint.
We are of the opinion that you may continue to follow-up on your complaint that you had sent to the help-desk of your bank on December 19. In pursuance, if you do not receive any further information from the concerned bank, it may be presumed that your complaint was duly taken note of and the late payment penalties have now been waived. If such is not the case, then you should furnish a statement of your bank account from where you remitted the funds to demonstrate that your account with the remitting bank has been debited.
However, in the event, should the concerned bank insist on payment of the penalties, you may try to prevail upon them stating that the imposition of the penalties was unjustified as you had received due notifications on your email of the transactions being successful.
However, in the event the concerned bank continues on the imposition of the fine, you may contact the Central Bank of United Arab Emirates, which is the competent authority in the UAE to hear complaints in respect of banking services.
KNOW THE LAW
A customer can contact the Central Bank of United Arab Emirates, which is the competent authority in the UAE to hear complaints in respect of banking services, in case of any complaints regarding their banks.
Ashish Mehta is the founder and Managing Partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates. He is qualified to practise law in Dubai, the United Kingdom, Singapore and India. Full details of his firm on: www.amalawyers.com. Readers may e-mail their questions to: news@khaleejtimes.com or send them to Legal View, Khaleej Times, PO Box 11243, Dubai.