The Central Bank of Iran said Monday it was exempting for three months checkbook holders with bounced checks from some of rules that govern bounced checks.
Accordingly, those who issue checks with non-sufficient funds in their accounts and whose checks mature from Feb.21 to May 20 will be exempt from penalties that restrict their access to banking services, such as getting new checkbooks, IBENA reported.
The move is in line with other government measures to aid businesses that are hit hard by the impact of the coronavirus.
It appears the waivers cover restrictions on issuing new checks to avoid further harm to already troubled businesses, and excludes other penalties, such as judicial action.
The deadly virus has hit a wide range of businesses in Iran since its outbreak in mid-February. Conditions worsened after the government ordered mass closures of retail markets and services companies as part of the social distancing scheme on March 27.
Confirmed corona cases in Iran surged above 60,500 by Monday and the infectious disease has so far claimed more than 3,739 lives.
Bad Checks Climb
The latest CBI report shows overall value of checks that bounced during the month to Feb. 21 jumped by 4.1% to reach 116 trillion rials ($729.6 million).
The number of bad checks during the month stood at 719,000 -- up 3.6% compared to the month before.
In volume and value terms, bad checks accounted for 8.4% and 9.5% of all drawn checks in the month.
In the reviewed period, about 214,000 checks worth 53 trillion rials ($333.33 million) bounced in the capital, accounting for 7.4% and 8.5% of the total volume and value of drawn checks in the sprawling metropolis of more than ten million people.
In terms of numbers, Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad Province topped the list of provinces with the highest ratio of bad checks to transacted checks at 16.7%.
North Khorasan Province was next at 12.8% and Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari Province third with a ratio of 12.7%.
Provinces with the lowest ratio were Gilan at 7.1%, Alborz 7.3% and Yazd 7.4%.
Insufficient funds in the accounts of issuers were the main reason for the rubber checks.
During the month under review, more than 691,000 checks worth 111 trillion rials bounced for not having sufficient funds or there was no money in the check issuers’ account.
Checks that bounced due to these two reasons accounted for 96.2% and 95.2% of the total bad checks, respectively, in volume and value.
Drawn Checks
More than 8.6 million checks worth 1,219 trillion rials ($7.66 billion) were drawn in the 30 days. The number of drawn checks rose 1.6% and the value increased 10.3%, compared to a month earlier.
Out of all checks drawn in the month, 2.9 million checks valued at 630 trillion rials ($3.96 billion) were issued in Tehran Province.
Tehran was first with the highest volume and value of drawn checks, accounting for 33.7% and 51.7% of all drawn checks, respectively.
Isfahan Province was second both in volume and value, representing 10.4% of all drawn checks and 6.4% of the value of checks issued in the month.
Cleared Checks
More than 7.8 million checks were cleared by banks during the period, indicating 1.5% increase in volume compared to a month before.
The total value of cleared checks was 1,102 trillion rials ($6.93 billion) -- an 11% monthly rise.
During the reviewed month about 2.7 million checks valued at 577 trillion rials ($3.62 billion) were cashed in Tehran Province.
Cleared checks accounted for 92.6% of the total volume and 91.5% of the total value of checks.
Around 893,000 cashier checks worth 1,600 trillion rials were cleared indicating 6% and 13.2% rise, respectively in volume and value.
More than 265,000 checks worth 910 trillion rials were cashed in Tehran.
The CBI report covered only interbank checks processed by Chekavak, a CBI-affiliated electronic check processing system, and did not include checks circulated within branches of a single bank.
