Bounced cheques and unpaid negotiable invoices in Peru: what can you do if you are not paid?

This page is about cheques and negotiable invoices

Protests of bills of exchange and promissory notes, the “sin protesto” (no-protest) clause and the protest register are covered on the page about protested bills of exchange and promissory notes. Here we look at what changes when the document is a cheque or a factura negociable (negotiable invoice).

One warning first: the articles of the Ley de Títulos Valores quoted here come from a private publisher, because the official copy El Peruano publishes downloads corrupted. The deadlines from that law on this page are not verified against the official text.

A cheque without funds is still a cheque

Many people think a cheque without funds is “worthless”. The law says otherwise. Article 173 of the Ley de Títulos Valores requires funds to issue a cheque, but adds:

“Sin embargo, la inobservancia de estas prescripciones no afecta la validez del título como Cheque.”

(However, failing to meet these requirements does not affect the document’s validity as a cheque.)

So if you were given a cheque without funds, you still hold a cheque you can collect. What the bank cannot do is pay it: article 212 forbids payment “cuando no existan fondos disponibles, salvo que decida sobregirar la cuenta” (when there are no funds available, unless it decides to allow an overdraft).

The deadline to present it

Article 207 sets the presentation period:

“207.1 El plazo de presentación de un cheque para su pago, sea que haya sido emitido dentro o fuera del país, es de 30 (treinta) días. 207.2 Este plazo comenzará a contarse desde el día de la emisión, inclusive […]”

(A cheque must be presented for payment within 30 days, whether issued in Peru or abroad, counting from the day of issue, inclusive.)

This period matters for two reasons. Within it you can ask the bank for a refusal note. And the limitation period is counted from it, as explained below.

The bank’s note replaces the notary

With a bill of exchange, a notary makes the protest. With a cheque there is a simpler option. Article 213 says:

“213.1 El protesto del cheque por falta de pago puede sustituirse por la comprobación puesta por el banco girado. 213.2 El banco que se niegue a pagar un cheque dentro del plazo de su presentación […] queda obligado a dejar constancia de ello en el mismo título, con expresa mención del motivo de su negativa, de la fecha de su presentación y con la firma de funcionario autorizado del banco.”

(The protest of an unpaid cheque can be replaced by a note from the drawee bank. A bank that refuses to pay a cheque within the presentation period must record this on the cheque itself, stating the reason, the date of presentation, and with an authorized officer’s signature.)

It adds that this note “acredita por sí sola el rechazo del cheque y surte todos los efectos del protesto” (proves the refusal on its own and has all the effects of a protest). You can ask for it from the first presentation, always within the legal presentation period.

In practice: when the bank tells you there are no funds, ask it to write that on the cheque. That annotated cheque does the job of a protest, which is what opens the fast-track route explained on the page about bills of exchange and promissory notes.

How long you have to sue

Article 96 sets the limitation periods for actions on negotiable instruments:

“a) A los tres años, a partir de la fecha de su respectivo vencimiento, la acción directa contra el obligado principal y/o sus garantes; b) Al año, a partir de la fecha de su vencimiento, la acción de regreso contra los obligados solidarios y/o garantes de éstos […]”

(Three years from maturity for the direct action against the main obligor and their guarantors; one year from maturity for the action against jointly liable parties and their guarantors.)

For cheques, paragraph 96.2 says these periods “se computan a partir del último día del plazo de presentación a cobro” (run from the last day of the presentation period). If that time passes, you lose the action on the cheque. If it already has, see the page on the statute of limitations on civil debts.

Writing a bad cheque can be a crime

The Código Penal (Criminal Code) punishes libramiento indebido (improper issuing of cheques). Article 215, in the Ministry of Justice’s official edition, says:

“Será reprimido con pena privativa de la libertad no menor de uno ni mayor de cinco años, el que gire, transfiera o cobre un Cheque, en los siguientes casos: 1. Cuando gire sin tener provisión de fondos suficientes o autorización para sobregirar la cuenta corriente; […] 6. Cuando lo endose a sabiendas que no tiene provisión de fondos.”

(Anyone who writes, transfers or cashes a cheque is punished with one to five years in prison in these cases, including: 1. writing it without sufficient funds or overdraft authorization; 6. endorsing it knowing there are no funds.)

The article lists other cases too: maliciously blocking payment, writing a cheque knowing it cannot be paid, revoking it on a false ground, or impersonating the payee. And it sets two important conditions:

“En los casos de los incisos 1) y 6) se requiere del protesto o de la constancia expresa puesta por el banco girado en el mismo documento, señalando el motivo de la falta de pago. Con excepción del incisos 4) y 5), no procederá la acción penal, si el agente abona el monto total del Cheque dentro del tercer día hábil de la fecha de requerimiento escrito y fehaciente […]”

(Cases 1 and 6 require a protest or the bank’s express note on the cheque stating why it was not paid. Except in cases 4 and 5, no criminal action proceeds if the person pays the full amount by the third business day after a written, verifiable demand.)

This means two things. For writing a cheque without funds (case 1) or endorsing one knowing there are no funds (case 6), you need a protest or the bank’s note. And if the issuer pays in full by the third business day after your written demand, the criminal action does not proceed. That is why it makes sense to send a demand that proves delivery first, such as a carta notarial.

The negotiable invoice: what it is

A factura negociable lets a seller who sells on credit turn what it is owed into an instrument it can transfer. Ley N.° 29623, as amended by Decreto de Urgencia N.° 013-2020, says:

“La Factura Negociable es un título valor a la orden transferible por endoso o un valor representado y transferible mediante anotación en cuenta en una Institución de Compensación y Liquidación de Valores […]. La factura negociable adquiere mérito ejecutivo verificado el cumplimiento de los requisitos a que se refiere el artículo 6 de la presente ley.”

(The negotiable invoice is a negotiable instrument transferable by endorsement, or a book-entry security transferable through a securities clearing and settlement institution. It becomes enforceable through fast-track proceedings once the requirements of article 6 are met.)

The same rule makes void any agreement that forbids transferring it. In practice, this lets a supplier sell its invoice to a factoring company or a bank and get paid sooner.

A paper negotiable invoice must carry certain minimum details. If any are missing, or it lacks proof of presentation, article 3 says it “pierde su calidad de título valor” (loses its status as a negotiable instrument). The invoice still works as a tax receipt, but it can no longer be collected as a negotiable instrument.

The buyer has eight days to object

This is what surprises buyers most. For a paper negotiable invoice, article 7 of Ley 29623 gives the buyer “un plazo por única vez, no prorrogable, de ocho (8) días calendario” (a single, non-extendable period of eight calendar days) from the proof of presentation to accept or object. If the buyer stays silent, the law presumes “la conformidad irrevocable de la Factura Negociable en todos sus términos y sin ninguna excepción” (irrevocable acceptance of the invoice in all its terms, without exception).

For electronic invoices, article 7 of Decreto de Urgencia N.° 013-2020 sets the same eight calendar days, counted from when the invoice was made available to the buyer and to SUNAT (the tax authority). Acceptance or objection is recorded on the platform SUNAT provides.

And if the product or service turns out defective after acceptance, the complaint goes against the supplier. Article 7 says the buyer can raise its defences “solo contra el proveedor […] sin tener derecho a retener, respecto al legítimo tenedor de la misma, el monto pendiente de pago, ni demorar dicho pago” (only against the supplier, without any right to withhold or delay payment to the invoice’s lawful holder).

If the negotiable invoice is not paid

If you hold a negotiable invoice and the debtor does not pay, article 6 of Ley 29623 sets the requirements to collect it through fast-track proceedings:

• Express or presumed acceptance by the buyer.
• For a paper invoice, proof that it was presented.
• A protest or its substitute, unless it carries the no-protest clause of article 52 of the Ley de Títulos Valores.

If the invoice is book-entry at a securities clearing and settlement institution, that institution issues, at your request, a registration and ownership certificate that “cuenta con mérito ejecutivo sin requerir protesto o formalidad sustitutoria alguna” (can be enforced without any protest or substitute formality).

What this page does not cover

We do not cover cashier’s cheques, deferred-payment cheques or crossed cheques in detail. We did not review the Ley 29623 regulations, SMV or clearing-institution rules, or amendments to that law after 23 January 2020. We also do not walk through fast-track collection proceedings or the criminal procedure step by step.