UTICA President Samir Majoul Welcomes Revisions to Bounced Check Law, but Highlights Remaining Challenges
Samir Majoul, President of the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade, and Handicrafts (UTICA), praised the revisions to the law on bounced checks on Thursday, October 17, describing them as generally positive, particularly with regard to the abolition of severe criminal penalties. However, he emphasized that certain challenges still need to be addressed through in-depth discussions.
Majoul highlighted the introduction of alternative sanctions to imprisonment as one of the main advances of the law. This change aims to restore checks as a payment tool while balancing the interests of issuers, beneficiaries, and banks.
Despite these progressions, several questions remain unanswered, notably concerning the maintenance of criminalization of issuing checks without provision for amounts exceeding 5,000 dinars. Since most checks exchanged in commercial transactions exceed this amount, this reform remains insufficient to provide effective protection for business leaders.
Majoul also stressed that the absence of implementing texts and clear guidelines complicates the situation, while the establishment of the electronic platform envisioned by the law is experiencing delays.
