The Central Bank of Oman has issued a ministerial decision regulating the direct debit system and bounced or returned cheques.
According to the decision seen by BusinessPlus, local banks in the country will have to maintain a “Unified Warning List” for cheque bounce defaulters including the name and ID of the holder of the returned cheque, the numbers and dates of its issuance and return, the value of its amounts, the names of its beneficiaries, and the reason for its return.
The licensed banks will have to maintain the list of defaulters who have two or more returned cheques in a month or four or more returned cheques in six months and six returned cheques within one year.
CBO also urged the licensed banks to exercise caution when dealing with account holders whose names appear on the “Unified Warning List”, and must withdraw cheque books from them, “not to open current account for the them and refrain from providing them with direct debit services for a period of one year from the date of returning cheque without prejudice,” the ministerial decision issued by CBO stated.
The new regulation also clarified that the CBO “may impose an administrative fine not exceeding OMR 20,000 upon violating the provisions of the regulations.”
However, the licensed banks can remove the name of the defaulter from the list if the holder of those returned cheques have settled their obligation towards the beneficiary. “License banks should obtain a document proving that settlement and maintain documents of proof,” the decision added.
