Amount for which the Bank is Responsible for Bad Check Leaf
As it is known; the amount that banks are responsible for bounced checks will be 9.270,00 TL as of 31.01.2024. In the Official Gazette dated January 27, 2024 and numbered 32442, the Communiqué on the Printing Type of Checkbooks and the Determination of the Amount that Banks are obliged to pay to the bearer (Number: 2024/1) was published.
With the Communiqué No. 2024/1, the amount that banks are legally obliged to pay for bounced checks after 31.01.2024 has been changed. With the aforementioned amendment;
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- Effective from January 31, 2024, the amount that banks are obliged to pay for each cheque leaf presented in due time in accordance with the relevant provisions of the TCC as a result of non-coverage has been increased from TRY 6,000.00 to TRY 9,270.00.
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- According to the revised regulation, following the amendments specified in the amended Articles 4 and provisional Article 2 of Communiqué No. 2024/1, which will enter into force on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, the procedures to be performed for each cheque leaf submitted to the addressee banks in due time and for which there is no partial or full provision are specified below. Therefore, correspondent banks should make bank liability amount payments taking into account the updated amounts as of the said date.
Amount for which Banks are Responsible
ARTICLE 4 (1) The addressee bank, the bearer other than the presenting issuer, for each cheque leaf presented in due time;
- 1. a) In case there is no equivalent at all,
- i. Nine thousand two hundred and seventy Turkish Liras if the value of the check is nine thousand two hundred and seventy Turkish Liras or more,
- ii. If the amount of the check is less than nine thousand two hundred and seventy Turkish Liras, the amount of the check,
- 1. b) In case of partial availability,
- i. If the amount of the check is nine thousand two hundred and seventy Turkish Liras or less, an amount that will complete the partial equivalent of nine thousand two hundred and seventy Turkish Liras, provided that it does not exceed the amount of the check,
- ii. If the amount of the check is over nine thousand two hundred and seventy Turkish Liras, it is obliged to pay nine thousand two hundred and seventy Turkish Liras in addition to the partial provision, provided that it does not exceed the amount of the check.
Provisional Article 2 – (1) For the cheques issued pursuant to the Communiqués issued prior to this Communiqué, the addressee bank shall be obliged to make a payment up to eight thousand six hundred and fifty Turkish Liras for each cheque leaf in the event that the cheque presented in due time is not covered, and in the event that the cheque is partially covered, the bank shall be obliged to complete this amount to eight thousand six hundred and fifty Turkish Liras for each cheque leaf.
Amount of Banks’ Liability Duration of Payment Obligations
On the other hand, with the amendments made to the Cheque Law No. 5941 (“Law“) by the Law No. 6273 published in the Repeated Official Gazette dated February 3, 2012 and numbered 28193 and entered into force on the same date, it has been made obligatory to write the date on which the cheque was printed on each leaf of the cheque books; and in the event that the cheque is not presented within five years from the date of printing written on it, the bank’s liability regarding the amount it is obliged to pay for bounced cheques is foreseen to end (Article 3/9 of the Law No. 5941). In addition, a time limit has been imposed on the obligations of banks for unused check sheets that have not been returned to the bank in any way.
The principles regarding the cheque sheets with the date on which the cheque was printed were determined by the CBRT with the “Communiqué (2012/2) Amending the Communiqué on the Printing Method of Cheque Books, the Amount Banks Are Obliged to Pay to the Holder, and the Notification and Announcement of the Decisions on Prohibition of Issuing Cheques and Opening Cheque Accounts (Number: 2010/2)” published in the Official Gazette dated 03.03.2012 and numbered 28222, and banks started to include the printing date on the cheque books in accordance with the principles set out in this Communiqué.
Pursuant to Provisional Article 3 of the Cheque Law No. 5941, the liability of the addressee bank for the amount that it is legally obliged to pay in relation to the cheques that do not have the date of printing on the cheque has ended as of 30.06.2018, if these cheques have not been submitted to the addressee bank until this date.
Statute of Limitations on Bank Liability
In fact, since the cheque is a payment instrument, submission periods are determined differently from the maturity period. For this reason, for each cheque sheet presented to the addressee bank in due time, there is a general statute of limitations of 10 years for the debts of the banks to the bearer arising from the bank liability amount. In this context, for cheques that have been presented to the banks in previous years and bounced, but for which the bank liability amount has not been claimed, the cheque holders reserve the right to claim the relevant amount from the banks within the 10-year statute of limitations.