Bounced Cheques in Oman: The Penalty and How to Recover the Amount

Under Omani law a cheque is an instrument of payment that stands in for cash, and the legislator protects it with a criminal sanction: issuing a cheque without funds is an offence under the Penal Code issued by Royal Decree 7/2018, alongside the payee’s right to claim the cheque amount. Said Ibrahim Ambusaidi Advocates (SIA), a law firm in Muscat, explains the elements of the offence and the options open to the holder of a returned cheque.

When is a bounced cheque a crime?

Article 356 of the Penal Code punishes with imprisonment from one month to two years and a fine of one hundred to five hundred Omani rials anyone who commits any of the following acts:

1. Gives a cheque without an existing, drawable balance, or with a balance below the cheque amount, or on a closed account.
2. Withdraws all or part of the cover after giving the cheque, so the remainder cannot meet it.
3. Orders the drawee bank not to pay the cheque.
4. Writes or signs the cheque in a way that prevents it from being paid.
5. Endorses or hands over a bearer cheque knowing it has no cover for its full amount, or that it cannot be paid.

The offence is thus not limited to an empty account: it covers stripping the account after issue, unjustified stop-payment orders, and deliberately defective signatures.

How do you recover the cheque amount?

Most importantly in practice, Article 356 itself provides that the court shall, at the request of the interested party, order the convicted person to pay the value of the cheque and the expenses the payee incurred. The criminal route does not merely punish; through the civil claim before the criminal court it delivers the cheque amount.

The civil and commercial route also remains open: the cheque is commercial paper governed by the Commercial Law issued by Royal Decree 55/90, and its holder may sue the drawer and endorsers for its value in a separate claim, seeking precautionary attachment of the debtor’s assets to secure execution where the conditions are met.

What about a bad-faith payee, and the bank?

The criminalisation is not confined to the drawer. Article 357 of the Penal Code punishes anyone who accepts a cheque, or induces another to accept it, knowing it has no cover, and Article 358 fines the drawee bank if it declares in bad faith that no drawable balance exists, or declares less cover than actually exists. The cheque’s criminal protection surrounds all its parties.

What are the practical steps when your cheque bounces?

1. Obtain the bank’s non-payment certificate stating the reason for refusal and its date.
2. Keep the original cheque and hand it to no one; it is the foundation of your claim.
3. Serve the drawer a written demand for payment; the demand alone often resolves the matter.
4. File the criminal complaint with a civil claim for the cheque amount, or file the commercial claim, whichever fits your position.
5. Move early: delay weakens your evidence and enforcement, and commercial paper carries special time limits under the Commercial Law.

Key facts

• Issuing a cheque without funds carries one month to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of OMR 100 to 500 under Article 356 of Penal Code RD 7/2018.
• The offence includes withdrawing the cover after issue, stop-payment orders, and signatures designed to prevent payment.
• On request, the criminal court orders the convicted person to pay the cheque amount and the payee’s expenses.
• Knowingly accepting an uncovered cheque is also an offence under Article 357, and a bank’s bad-faith false statement is fined under Article 358.
• The holder retains the civil route to claim the cheque amount under Commercial Law RD 55/90.

When to involve a lawyer

Involve a lawyer if you hold a returned cheque and want the fastest route to its value, if the cheques and debtors have multiplied, if you yourself face a cheque charge and need a defence or a settlement, or if you want better security than cheques in your future dealings.

At Said Ibrahim Ambusaidi Advocates we handle cheque complaints and the civil claims attached to them, commercial recovery actions and attachments, and the defence of cheque cases, before the courts across Oman. The first consultation is free by phone or WhatsApp on +968 9706 3030. We are based in Al Khoudh, Seeb, Muscat, and work Sunday to Thursday, 9:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 17:00, in Arabic and English.

This article is general legal information, not legal advice.