Deadline for Machine Readable Cheques pushed back

The deadline for banks to only accept cheques bearing new security features has been extended, the UAE Central Bank has announced.

A Central Bank spokesperson told local media that the decision was reversed because of a flood of complaints from customers, forcing the regulator to push back the deadline.

UAE banks were required to stop accepting old bank cheques by January 1, 2011, and introduce new high tech, tamper proof, cheques which are machine readable.

However, banks and customers complained that the validity of their old post dated cheques, from last year and beyond, were compromised by the new rules, leaving them unable to make payments.

Landlords and property owners also protested against the deadline as they hold thousands of post dated cheques as part of their tenants’ rental payments, an issue which could prove very difficult to resolve, they said.

As a result, the Central Bank issued a circular that advised local banks that a revised cut off date for handling cheques without the new security features would be released in the near future.

It added that the new deadline was likely to be in the middle of the year.

Despite repeated attempts, Arabian Business could not reach Central Bank officials for further comment.

Although banks have been implementing their own security features in the cheques, the Central Bank has insisted on all banks complying with a set of new security features to reduce the chances of fraud.