The Supreme Court has ruled that the bank is liable for delay in presenting the cheque. Failure of the bank to present the cheque within the prescribed validity period of the cheque without any reasonable explanation would amount to ‘deficiency in service’ under the Consumer Protection Act.
A bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan upheld the liability of the Canara Bank for deficiency in rendering service to its customer, who had deposited the cheque with the bank. The bank failed to present the cheque before the expiry of the validity period of the cheque, and the cheque was dishonoured with the remark “stale cheque.”
A cheque is valid for 3 months (90 calendar days) from the date of issue written on it.
The complaint was filed by Kavita Chowdhary, who holds a savings bank account with Canara Bank at its Maharani Bagh (Ashram Chowk) Branch, New Delhi. The cheques were issued in favour of the respondent by Assotech Limited and drawn on Vijaya Bank, S.S.I. Branch, Noida.
The complainant received an SMS that the cheques had been returned due to expiry of the validity date and filed a case in court. The Supreme Court held that the bank is liable for the delay in presenting the cheque and ordered compensation at 6 percent of the total amount of Rs, 1,06,10,768.00 to each of
the complainants alongwith interest at the rate of 6 percent per annum from the date of filing the complaints.
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