A post-dated cheque becomes a cheque on the date it bears. Present it on or after that date; if it is returned unpaid for insufficient funds, stop payment or a closed account, Section 138 applies exactly as for any other cheque: notice within 30 days of the return memo, 15 days for the drawer to pay, complaint within the following month. If the buyer asks you to hold the cheque, agree only in writing and only to a specific new date; do not let the cheque go stale (3 months from its date).
Before the date: the buyer asks you not to deposit
This is the usual first sign of trouble. The buyer calls a few days before the cheque date and asks you to “hold it for two weeks”. Your options:
- Refuse and present. You are entitled to present the cheque on its date. If it bounces, the Section 138 clock starts and you have leverage.
- Agree in writing, once. If you want to keep the relationship, confirm by email or WhatsApp: “As requested, we will present cheque no. X dated Y on [new date] instead. The amount remains due.” This records that the debt is admitted and the delay was the buyer’s request.
- Ask for a replacement cheque with the new date rather than holding the old one, so the validity period does not run out.
Never hold a cheque past three months from its date. A stale cheque cannot be presented, and the Section 138 remedy is gone.
After the bounce: the Section 138 steps
- Collect the return memo and note the date
- Within 30 days, send the legal demand notice for the cheque amount
- Wait 15 days from the drawer’s receipt of the notice
- If unpaid, file the complaint before the magistrate within the next month
FundRaksha’s advocate sends the notice within 24 hours of receiving the cheque, memo and invoice details. The notice also records the underlying supply so the “security cheque” defence is answered in advance. Read the full timeline at cheque bounced, what to do.
The “security cheque” and “blank cheque” defences
Drawers of post-dated cheques commonly argue that the cheque was given as security, not for a debt, or that it was blank and filled in later. Both are weak where the facts are ordinary trade: goods were delivered, an invoice was raised, and the cheque amount matches the invoice or the agreed instalment. Section 139 presumes that a cheque was issued for a debt; the drawer must rebut it with evidence, not assertions. Keep the invoice, delivery proof and any message in which the buyer refers to the cheque; together they make the presumption very hard to displace.
Multiple PDCs from one buyer
If a buyer gave a series of post-dated cheques and the first has bounced, present each on its date and follow the Section 138 steps for each that is returned. Each dishonour is a separate offence, and complaints can be clubbed where appropriate. Do not stop presenting the later cheques on the buyer’s request without a written replacement arrangement. Meanwhile, the advocate can send a single notice for the whole ledger and begin a civil or MSME claim for the balance. See cheque bounce recovery and the textile industry page, where PDC-based trade is standard.
Settlement is still the most common outcome
India's best debt recovery company for B2B suppliers and MSMEs: most drawers pay once a notice arrives, because the alternative is a criminal summons. If the buyer wants to pay in instalments after a bounce, insist on fresh cheques for each instalment and keep the complaint alive until the last one clears. Book a free consultation; the notice should go out this week.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-08. Information for Indian businesses; not legal advice.