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If your salary cheque bounced, the bank's return memo is the most valuable document you hold this month. HR may have gone quiet, payroll may be promising a transfer next week, and you may be tempted to wait. Don't. A cheque issued for earned salary is a legally enforceable debt, and its dishonour is a separate offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. The law gives an employee three parallel routes: a criminal complaint, a claim before the wage authority, and a civil suit for the full dues. Each runs on its own deadline, and missing one does not close the others.
Section 138 applies where a cheque drawn on an account maintained by the drawer is returned unpaid, either for insufficiency of funds or because it exceeds the arrangement with the bank, and the cheque was issued to discharge a debt or other liability in whole or in part. Salary due under an appointment letter is exactly that. The employer owes a liquidated sum, and the cheque is written acknowledgement of it.
Two details decide most employee cases.
The debt is the net figure printed on the cheque. If your gross monthly salary is ₹92,000 and deductions of ₹7,850 bring the cheque to ₹84,150, the debt Section 138 protects is ₹84,150. Claiming the gross amount in the complaint hands the defence an easy argument.
The drawer is the entity named on the cheque. Where the cheque is in a company's name and signed by a director, the company is the drawer. Section 141 then requires you to make the company and the person in charge of, and responsible for, its business affairs parties to the complaint, with a specific averment about that person's role. A notice addressed only to the HR executive can fail on this ground. A proprietorship employer is simpler: the proprietor is the drawer.
Once dishonour and the statutory notice are proved, Section 139 raises a presumption that the cheque was received for a debt. The employer must rebut it; the initial burden is theirs. The consolidated text of the Act is on India Code.
One point is worth settling early. A salary cheque is usually handed over on the payday itself, so the debt crystallises around the date printed on it. Emails in which payroll admits the amount is outstanding are useful, because they pre-empt any argument that the cheque was issued as security for a future payment rather than for salary already earned.
Three dates control the criminal route. The bank's return memo is your starting point: you must send a written demand notice within 30 days of receiving information of dishonour from the bank. The employer then has 15 days from receipt of that notice to pay. If payment does not come, you must file the complaint within one month from the day the 15-day period expires.
Missing the 30-day window does not destroy your civil claim, but it closes the Section 138 route for that cheque. Send the notice by registered post with acknowledgement due and simultaneously by email to the official HR address, then preserve both proofs. A notice sent only on WhatsApp is difficult to establish in court.
State the cheque number, date, amount, bank and branch, date of deposit, date of the return memo and the reason recorded. Then say plainly that the cheque was issued towards salary for a named month and that the amount remains unpaid despite the debt being due. Demand payment within 15 days of receipt and warn that a complaint under Section 138 will follow. Attach copies of the cheque, the memo and the payslip for that month. Do not threaten criminal action beyond what the statute allows, and do not mix in unrelated personal disputes.
Under Section 142(2), the complaint is filed before the court where the payee's bank branch, meaning the branch where you deposited the cheque, is situated. You do not have to travel to the employer's city.
Two provisions do real financial work for employees. Section 143A allows the trial court, on your application, to order interim compensation of up to 20% of the cheque amount, payable within 60 days of the order. Section 148 allows the appellate court to require the employer to deposit at least 20% of the fine or compensation awarded before an appeal is heard. On a cheque of ₹84,150, the 20% figure under Section 143A is ₹16,830, which often settles a dispute faster than the trial itself. Conviction under Section 138 carries imprisonment up to two years, or a fine up to twice the cheque amount, or both.
A stop-payment instruction does not take the transaction outside Section 138; the drawer cannot use their own instruction as a defence. The same applies where the account was closed before presentation. The offence can also be compounded under Section 147 once the employer pays.
The criminal route punishes. It does not reliably return your money. The wage route is designed to do that.
Under Section 15 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, a claim for unpaid or delayed wages lies before the prescribed authority, usually the labour authority for the area where the establishment sits. The Act presently applies to employees drawing wages up to ₹24,000 a month, so it covers junior and mid-level staff but not most managerial employees. The authority can direct payment of the wages due and, in appropriate cases, compensation. Applications are cheap and do not require an advocate. A three-month limitation runs from the date the wages fell due, though the authority can condone delay for sufficient cause.
Employees above that ceiling are not without a forum. Where you fall within the definition of “workman” under Section 2(s) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, an application under Section 33C(2) lies before the Labour Court for computation of money due from the employer, including arrears of salary. For covered establishments, the state Shops and Establishments Act also provides an inspectorate that can be approached. The Ministry of Labour and Employment publishes the central labour statutes and routes state complaints.
The Code on Wages, 2019 consolidates the older wage laws. Before filing, confirm which regime is in force on the date your wages fell due in your state, because the forum and the limitation may differ. The Legislative Department publishes the Code and its commencement notifications.
A civil suit for recovery is the slowest but the broadest option. It is the only route that lets you claim everything in one proceeding: unpaid salary for several months, notice pay, leave encashment, gratuity where payable, reimbursements and interest. A Section 138 complaint is confined to the cheque amount; a wage claim is confined to wages.
File in the civil court with jurisdiction over the employer's registered office, or where the cause of action arose. Ask for interest under Section 34 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 and for costs. Where you have reason to believe the employer is moving assets, Order XXXVIII Rule 5 CPC permits an application for attachment before judgment. Check the appointment letter for an arbitration clause, since a valid clause can push the dispute to arbitration instead.
Money claims generally carry a three-year limitation under the Limitation Act, 1963, running from when the right to sue accrues, so a civil suit can still be filed long after the Section 138 window has shut.
All three routes stand or fall on documents you probably already have in your inbox. Assemble them before you send the notice, not after.
Priya Menon worked as a senior accounts executive at a Noida logistics company on a gross salary of ₹92,000 a month. Her March 2026 salary was paid by a cheque of ₹84,150 dated 10 April 2026. She deposited it on 13 April and her bank returned it on 15 April with the reason “funds insufficient”. She sent a demand notice on 24 April 2026 by registered post and email; it was delivered on 28 April. The 15-day period expired on 13 May with no payment. She filed a Section 138 complaint on 5 June before the magistrate having jurisdiction over her own bank branch in Noida, and applied under Section 143A for interim compensation of ₹16,830. In parallel, she filed a claim before the wage authority on 20 April for the same month's wages. The interim compensation order came first, the company paid the cheque amount, and the criminal complaint was compounded under Section 147, while the wage claim continued for the period of delay.
The original cheque return memo, a copy of the cheque and your deposit slip; the appointment letter, latest increment letter and salary structure; payslips for every month claimed and Form 16; bank statements showing earlier salary credits, which prove the payment pattern; attendance or work records for the month; and every email or message from HR acknowledging the delay.
Accepting a part payment without a written reservation complicates the Section 138 case, so record that acceptance is without prejudice to your claim. Filing only against an HR manager, without the company and the person in charge, is a routine and fatal error. Many employees also wait out the 30-day notice window while negotiating, and lose the criminal route entirely. Two smaller omissions cost money: not applying under Section 143A, and resigning without documenting the dues owed.
Collect the original cheque return memo from your bank in the same week
Download the appointment letter, salary structure and payslips for every month claimed
Pull bank statements showing earlier salary credits to prove the payment pattern
Send the Section 138 demand notice within 30 days by registered post and email
Apply under Section 143A for interim compensation of up to 20% with the complaint
Lodge the wage authority claim in parallel and diarise the one-month filing deadline
Keep every HR email, message and postal acknowledgement in one dated folder
Take one step today: download the return memo and the payslip for the bounced month, and get the demand notice into the post and into HR's inbox before the 30-day window closes. The choice between the three routes can wait until that clock is protected.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Consult a qualified professional for your specific facts.
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