The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has introduced tougher sanctions for customers who repeatedly issue dud cheques, including a three-year ban on issuing cheques and a one-year restriction on accessing new credit facilities.
Under the revised rules, customers who issue a third dud cheque within one year of their first offence will face a penalty equivalent to 20% of the cheque’s value, in addition to the restrictions imposed by the central bank.
A dud cheque is one issued when there are insufficient funds in the customer’s account to cover the amount stated on the cheque. The bank is required to reject and return such a cheque unpaid, while the account holder may also face legal action.
For a first offence, the customer’s bank will impose a penalty of 10% of the cheque’s face value and issue a warning outlining the consequences of another breach.
The offence must also be reported to the Credit Reference Bureaus (CRBs) and the Bank of Ghana.
A second dud cheque issued within one year of the first will attract a penalty of 15% of the cheque’s value. The second offence must similarly be reported to the CRBs and the central bank, with the customer receiving another warning.
The sanctions become significantly more severe at the third offence.
In addition to the 20% financial penalty, the Bank of Ghana will ban the customer from issuing cheques for at least three years and from accessing new credit facilities from the banking system for one year.
The central bank will also notify all banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions of the ban.
The BoG said adverse reports to credit reference bureaus could affect a customer’s creditworthiness, potentially resulting in a poor credit score, higher borrowing costs and limited access to funds.
Once a bank receives notification of a cheque-issuing ban, it is required to inform the affected customer within five working days.
The bank must also recall all unused cheque books and refrain from issuing new ones until the sanction is lifted.
Customers who fail to return unused cheque books within 10 working days of receiving notification could face additional sanctions.
In such cases, the bank is required to report the matter to the BoG, which may ban the customer from operating any current account and place their name on the central bank’s Directory of High-Risk Cheque Issuers.
The BoG has consequently advised customers to check their account balances before issuing cheques and take into account pending transactions that could reduce available funds.
Customers have also been cautioned against issuing cheques based on funds they expect to receive later unless they are certain the money will be available when the cheque is presented.
The central bank further encouraged customers to keep records of cheques issued and their expected presentation dates, and to contact their banks promptly if they anticipate insufficient funds.
