Bounced Cheque Law in the GCC: Saudi, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman

General information, not legal advice. Laws and bank rules change; check with your bank or a qualified lawyer for your situation.

As of October 2026, a bounced cheque (one issued without sufficient funds) is still a criminal offence in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. The UAE is the GCC exception: it decriminalised insufficient-funds cheques from 2 January 2022.

The recent reforms elsewhere have not removed criminal liability. They have added faster civil routes: partial payment by the bank, and the right to enforce a bounced cheque directly without a full lawsuit. Below is what we could verify for each country, with sources, and plain notes where we could not.

GCC bounced cheque law at a glance

Saudi Arabia

Under Article 118 of the Commercial Papers Law, issuing a cheque without sufficient funds is a crime, as Arab News explained in a 2019 legal column. The reported penalty is imprisonment of up to three years and/or a fine of up to SAR 50,000. A repeat offence within three years carries up to five years and/or SAR 100,000. Courts may also order the offender's name to be published, and Gulf News has reported on Saudi Arabia naming people convicted over bad cheques.

Criminal intent matters. The same column notes that a drawer who shows good faith may not be guilty of the offence. We found no official source confirming any change to the penalty limits since then, so check the current position with a Saudi lawyer before relying on these figures.

Qatar

Article 357 of the Penal Code (Law No. 11 of 2004) criminalises drawing a cheque in bad faith without sufficient funds. The Peninsula has reported the penalty as three months to three years in prison and a fine of at least QAR 3,000. It also reported two further points. Courts order the convicted drawer to pay the cheque value and the beneficiary's expenses without a separate civil case. And under Article 604 of the Commercial Law, the drawer's cheque books are withdrawn and new ones refused, reported as for one year. Payment before a final judgment can end the criminal case.

Two newer laws add civil tools. Law No. 1 of 2024 amended Article 585 of the Commercial Law from 6 April 2024, requiring banks to pay a cheque partially when the balance is short, unless the holder refuses. Law firm commentary notes this does not change the drawer's criminal liability. The Judicial Enforcement Law No. 4 of 2024, in force from 6 October 2024, makes a cheque returned for insufficient funds an enforceable document that can go straight to the enforcement judge. We found no verified source showing that Qatar has decriminalised bounced cheques.

Kuwait

Kuwait treats a bounced cheque as a crime under Article 237 of the Penal Code. Commercial Bank of Kuwait's published cheque-book terms, for example, state that the drawer can face imprisonment, a fine, or both. The same terms describe the banking consequences:

• The account is closed if three cheques with different numbers are returned within a year, or if the bank finds bad faith.
• The customer's name goes on the Central Survey System for one year, which in practice blocks a new cheque book across Kuwaiti banks.

Legal commentary often cites a maximum of three years' imprisonment. Kuwait approved Penal Code amendments in 2025 that raised a number of fines, but we could not confirm whether Article 237's fine changed. Ask a Kuwaiti lawyer for the current limits.

Bahrain

Bahrain changed its rules most recently. A Shura Council proposal in April 2025 became Law No. 23 of 2025, which law firm summaries report was ratified on 11 May 2025. It amended the Commercial Law (Decree-Law 7/1987) to:

• allow banks to pay part of a cheque when the balance is insufficient (Article 465 bis), with the Central Bank of Bahrain setting the implementation stages;
• make a cheque marked for insufficient funds or partial payment an enforceable document (Article 465 bis 1);
• fine the misuse of blank cheques taken as security (Article 491 bis).

The Ministry of Justice announced that, under Ministerial Decision 6 of 2026, these cheques can be enforced online via Bahrain.bh from 3 February 2026 without filing a lawsuit. A 2% fee, capped at BD 1,000, has been reported.

The reform did not decriminalise bounced cheques. Article 393 of the Penal Code (prison, fine or both for issuing an uncovered cheque in bad faith) has not been reported as repealed. The Gulf Daily News reported in May 2025 that the Court of Cassation upheld jail terms in four dud cheque cases.

Oman

Article 356 of the Omani Penal Code (Royal Decree 7/2018), as reported by the Oman Observer, punishes issuing a cheque without sufficient funds, or from a closed account, with imprisonment of up to two years and a fine of OMR 100 to OMR 500. The court also orders the drawer to pay the cheque value and the beneficiary's expenses. Other acts in the same article include withdrawing funds after issuing the cheque and wrongly ordering non-payment.

From 15 December 2025 the Central Bank of Oman introduced partial payment of cheques. The beneficiary receives the available balance and keeps full recourse for the rest under Article 566 of the Commercial Law and the Penal Code, as the Times of Oman reported. Commentary on Omani law also distinguishes cheques clearly marked as a guarantee, which may not support a criminal case. Take local advice on how that applies to you.

The UAE in brief

Since 2 January 2022, issuing a cheque without sufficient funds is no longer a crime in the UAE on its own. The bounced cheque is an executory document that the holder takes straight to the execution judge, and banks must pay partially if the holder agrees. Bad-faith acts such as closing the account or forging a signature remain criminal. The full picture is in our UAE cheque bounce law guide.

What to do in practice

If you issue cheques

• Only issue post-dated cheques you are confident you can fund, and review them monthly. See managing post-dated cheques.
• If a cheque will not be covered, talk to the payee before the date. Settling before a final judgment can end a criminal case in several of these countries.
• Don't sign blank cheques as security. Bahrain now fines their misuse, and everywhere a blank cheque can be filled in for more than you owe. See security cheques.
• Use a legal reason for a stop payment. Stopping payment without one can itself be an offence.

If you receive a bounced cheque

• Keep the original cheque and the bank's return memo or certificate.
• Check whether partial payment was made and what balance remains.
• Ask a local lawyer whether criminal complaint, direct enforcement or both suit your case, and about deadlines. Our guide to a cheque bounce legal notice covers the demand letter.

Whatever the country, keep a reliable record of every cheque you issue: number, payee, amount, date and status. ChequeMaster records each printed cheque and lets you mark it Cleared, Returned or Stopped, so you can see at a glance which cheques are outstanding. See tracking cleared and uncleared cheques.

Related guides

• Common cheque bounce reasons
• Saudi Arabia cheque guide
• Qatar cheque guide
• Bahrain cheque guide
• Oman cheque guide