As deposit money banks (DMBs) continue to send emails to their customers informing them of the upward review of returned cheque charges in line with the revised guide to bank charges recently released by the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN), mixed reactions have continued to trail the move across the country. According to the apex bank, beginning from May 1st when the new guide to bank charges came into effect, bank customers that issue cheques when their accounts are not funded would be charged either 1 per cent of the cheque value or N5,000 depending on which is higher.
The banking watchdog said : “Due to the account being unfunded 1per cent of amount or N5,000 whichever is higher (to be borne by drawer only). This is without prejudice to the Dud Cheque Act.” It, however, stated that there will be no charge when cheques are returned: “Due to reasons other than the account being unfunded.”
Commenting on the development in a chat with New Telegraph, President, Bank Customers Association of Nigeria (BCAN), Dr Uju Ogubunka, stated that while the upward review of the returned cheque charge is clearly intended to discourage people from issuing dud cheques, the introduction of the new regulation should also have taken into consideration the fact that there were already laws enacted to address the issue.
He stated that although any measure aimed at discouraging dud cheque issuers was welcome, emphasis should be placed on enforcing the existing law on the issue: “rather than introducing new regulation.” However, in his reaction, Principal Consultant at Henates and Associates, Mr. Henry Atenaga, said the move by the CBN was to further strengthen its efforts at tackling the problem of returned cheques.
He said: “There is nothing wrong with the upward review of the returned cheques charge. It simply means that while the issuers of dud cheques are being prosecuted, the bank is also penalizing them by charging them either 1 per cent of the value of the cheque or N5,000.”
But with the new regulation, they know they will lose significant amount of money whether they are prosecuted or not,” he stated. The Deputy Director, Banking Supervision, CBN, Mr. Stephen Nwadiuko, had revealed last August that as part of efforts to deal with the issue of returned cheques, the banking watchdog was planning to stop issuers of such cheques from opening current accounts.
New Telegraph
