Lok Sabha passed the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2015. The Bill provides for filing of cheque bounce cases at the place where a cheque is presented for clearance and not the place of issue.
The Bill seeks to amend the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. It will have implications for over 18 lakh cheque bounce cases pending in various courts.
The Act defines promissory notes, bills of exchange, cheques and creates penalties for issues such as bouncing of cheques. The Bill amends the Act to state that cases of bouncing of cheques can be filed only in a court in whose jurisdiction the bank branch of the payee (person who receives the cheque) lies.
Provisions of the Bill
- If a complaint against a person issuing a cheque has been filed in the court with the appropriate jurisdiction, then all subsequent complaints against that person will be filed in the same court, irrespective of the relevant jurisdiction area.
- If more than one case is filed against the same person before different courts, the case will be transferred to the court with the appropriate jurisdiction.
- The Bills also amends the definition of cheque in the electronic form. The definition has been amended to mean a cheque drawn in electronic medium using any computer resource and which is signed in a secure system with a digital signature, or electronic system.
