Credit Policy
Credit Policy
Credit Policy
1.2Methodology:
Primary Resources Secondary Resources Descriptive
SAIL a competitive edge in terms of captive availability of iron ore, limestone, and dolomite which are inputs for steel making. SAIL's wide ranges of long and flat steel products are much in demand in the domestic as well as the international market. This vital responsibility is carried out by SAIL's own Central Marketing Organisation (CMO) and the International Trade Division. CMO encompasses a wide network of 34 branch offices and 54 stockyards located in major cities and towns throughout India. With technical and managerial expertise and know-how in steel making gained over four decades, SAIL's Consultancy Division (SAILCON) at New Delhi offers services and consultancy to clients world-wide. SAIL has a well-equipped Research and Development Centre for Iron and Steel (RDCIS) at Ranchi which helps to produce quality steel and develop new technologies for the steel industry. Besides, SAIL has its own in-house Centre for Engineering and Technology (CET), Management Training Institute (MTI) and Safety Organisation at Ranchi. Our captive mines are under the control of the Raw Materials Division in Kolkata. The Environment Management Division and Growth Division of SAIL operate from their headquarters in Kolkata. Almost all plants and major units are ISO Certified.
Subsidiary
Maharashtra Elektrosmelt Limited (MEL) in Maharashtra
JointVentures
SAIL has promoted joint ventures in different areas ranging from power plants to ecommerce:
NTPC SAIL Power Company Pvt. Ltd. This 50:50 joint venture between Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) and National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. (NTPC Ltd.) is managing the captive power plants at Rourkela, Durgapur and Bhilai with a combined capacity of 814 megawatts (MW). Bokaro Power Supply Company Pvt. Ltd. This 50:50 joint venture between SAIL and the Damodar Valley Corporation formed in January 2002 is managing the 302-MW power generation and 660 tonnes per hour steam generation facilities at Bokaro Steel Plant.
Blooms, Billets, Beams , Light, Structural ,Channels ,Angles ,Bars & Rods, Crane Rails, Plates, Rails Bhilai Steel Plant Bhilai, Chhattisgarh 3.153 4.370 6.560 ,Long Rails, Pig Iron, Chemicals & Fertilizers.
Blooms, Billets & Slads ,Channels, Angles, Bars, Rode & Rebars, Skelp, Wheels, Railway Wheels & Durgapur Steel Durgapur Plant West Bengal 1.586 1.884 2.120 Axles, Pig Iron, Chemicals & Fertilisers.
HR Coils, Plates, CR Coils & Sheet, GP/GC Sheet, Tin Plates, Spiral Weld Pipes, Electrical Resistance Rourkela Steel Plant Rourkela Vrissa 1.671 1.997 3.990 Weld Pipes, Pig Iron, Chemicals & Fertilisers.
HR Coils/Plate/Sheet, CR Coils & Bokaro Steel Plant Bokaro, Jharkhand 3.780 3.461 4.180 Sheet, GP. Sheet /Coils, GC Sheet. Pig Iron, Chemicals & Fertilisers.
Burnpur, West Bengal 0.550 0.414 2.390 Steel Structural, Bulb Bars Sections.
Slabs, Booms, Bars, Plates, CRM Rolls, Concast Rollers, Crane Wheels, Springs, Hammers, Grate Alloy Steels Plant Durgapur, West Bengal 0.184 0.180 0.430 Bars, Hot Saw Blade, Bright Bars, Stainless Steel Liner Plates.
Cold Rolled Stainless Steel ,Hot Rolled Carbon & Stainless Steel Salem Steel Plants Salem, Tamil Nadu 0.175 0.226 0.340 Products, Micro-Alloyed Carbon Steel.
Visvesvaraya Iron & Steel Plant Bhadravati, Karnataka 0.098 0.098 0.220 High Quality Rolled & Forged Alloy & Special Steel Products.
Maharashtra Elektrosmelt Ltd Chandrapur, Maharashtra 0.100 High/Medium/ Low Carbon FerroManagement, Silicon-Management.
To establish a strategic alliance for aligning and cooperating in a wide range of strategic business and commercial interest areas. Further another MOU signed with POSCO in connection with: POSCO 1. Manufacture & Commercialization of CRNO
To set up, develop & manage a 65,000 TPA TMTGovernment of Kerala Rolling Mill along with its balancing facilities and auxiliaries at SCL, Calicut on an equal share holding pattern with Government of Kerala.
For setting up a wagon manufacturing plant at Kulti. The proposed JV will handle about JV with Rites ltd. 1500 wagons per annum.
To set up a Joint Venture for Development of Arki Limestone Mine at Solan, Himachal NMDC Ltd. Pradesh.
CMO maintains its aggressive efforts in order to retain market leadership by meeting customer requirement and evolving strategies to increase sales. In order to strengthen the marketing approach and initiate product and segment specialization, CMO has been reorganized on the basis of flat and long production. Likewise, Key Account Management (KAM) process has been implemented in CMO to provide service, quality and tailor made products to key customers through a single window. This is being followed up by the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) to increase responsiveness to customer needs. Yet another significant development had been there-orientation of the sales branches and warehouses. This has enabled to marketing team to concentrate on building customer relationship to provide team better service, along with the best quality. Dealer development, especially in rural areas, is being aggressively pursued by CMO to reach out to the furthest corners of the country. This wide network of authorized dealers also helps meet customers demand for steel in small quantities. International Trade Division (ITD) of CMO manages export of mid steel products and maintains close liaison with the buyers abroad. ITD has been successful in making SAIL steel, a familiar name across the continents. SAIL's reputation as a producer of quality steel products has been established in as many as 70 countries around the globe, including Japan, UK, Italy, Russia etc. Transport and Shipping Division (T&S) of CMO performs the important functions of ensuring proper dispatch of export materials and timely imports of materials to keep the SAIL plants going.
Other Activities
Decoiling of TMT Coils to TMT bars is also a facility which is being set up at various locations, within / outside the warehouses as mentioned in Chapter 11d. and the Periodic wagon card closure-for small balances Stock verification - matching of physical stocks with computer stocks and adjust wagon cards accordingly. Idle asset disposal - by formation of suitable committees as per guidelines Finalizing Contracts and Contract Management in respect of the warehouse like Handling contract, Road transportation contract, door delivery contract , de coiling contract, AMC with agencies like Electrical, weighbridges, surface maintenance, security, siding maintenance etc. Proper upkeep of warehouse infrastructure with emphasis to the following
Proper layout and optimum utilization of space, signboards Proper surface condition of roads and stacking area Display of safety slogans at prominent places Provision for labour canteens, public conveniences, drinking water facilities Maintenance of railway tracks , road level at level crossings by suitable contractor To the extent possible, maintain a dust free environment Proper lighting system, so that operations in the late evenings are affected smoothly Fencing, Security, manning of gates, fire fighting equipments, handling equipments, health hygiene and first aid facilities, pure drinking water, canteen, well maintained toilets, and maintenance of safety and security measures
Maintenance of leave records, stationeries, and other administrative functions - to be done by one staff earmarked for the same, under the supervision of one executive Review of gate register by WHM once in 15 days to analyze:
If vehicles are detained in warehouse regularly If so, why - i.e. due to break down of vehicles or inability of HC to load the materials, or whether material not in loading position etc
Whether there is abnormal delay in loading for particular trucks and if so why How much time is being taken between truck in and truck out?
Housekeeping - by collection of bent and twisted materials scattered all over the yard and keeping the same in identified bay and keep the warehouse clean and neat Documentation, maintenance of records Reply to audit, vigilance and different correspondences , in time Maintaining of RG 23 D Register for excise and submitting the same to excise authorities on quarterly basis, by concerned staff. This is a statutory requirement. Stacking of materials as per broad stacking plan Maintenance of Quality records for ISO audit Undertake Customer / Dealer visits, which will help the warehouse group to appreciate their problems better and enable us to improve our services. Reports and Returns
3.3Avenues of Sale
The products of SAIL are sold through different avenues. They are as follows:
1. 2. 3. 4. Dealership Scheme Tender Route Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Scheme. Tie-ups
a) Dealership Scheme:
SAIL has authorized dealer all over the country for marketing of its products. These dealers are appointed after careful analysis of their financial ability and goodwill in the market. Products are delivered to these dealers from the stockyards for selling.
b) Tender Route:
Some of the products of SAIL viz, TMT Bars, Structural, Plates, Pig Iron (dusts and chips) and sold materials downgraded as defectives/scrapes etc are sold through tender. After physical inspection, Warehouse manager/officer-in charge of the stockyard identifies such materials which are to be sold by tender. A statement is prepared with full details of the materials including name of manufacture plants and date of receipt of the same yard. The Tender Notices are set to local tenders/ consumer's association and concerned SSI carnation. A minimum time of four working days is permitted for submission of tenders by interested parties. An amount of equal to 2% of the value of tender quantity subject to a maximum of Rs.50, 000 is to be deposited as earnest money.
c) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Scheme:
The minimum order quantity for MOU is 2000 - 6000 mt. The benefits which the customers derive from MOU are:
1. 2. Interest Free Credit (IFC) for a pre-determined period. The IFC may be secured or unsecured. Turnover Discount (TOD) which is calculated per tones of material lifted. The rate of TOD varies with size of lifting. However, TOD is restricted to 120% of the quantity booked against the MOU. 3. Consistency allowance is allowed depending upon the consistency in lifting of material booked against the MOU. This allowance is also calculated at per tones basis. d) Tie-ups:
Sometime the company receives customers who have bulk demand of products but for a specific period only. The company enters in tie ups with these customers for the supply of the product. Tie-ups generally entered into for a quarter. The TOD and Interest Free Credit facilities are available in tie-ups also.
4. FINANCE AND ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT OF SAIL 4.1 Structure of Finance and Account Department, CMO.
Home Sales Branches all over India along with 4 Branch Transport and Shipping (BTSO).Home sale branches are being monitored by CMO (HQ) at kolkata whereas BTSOs are separately monitored by T&S/HQ. Ultimately, all home sale branches and BTSOs including T&S/HQ and Commercial Directorate (including ITD) are accountable to CMO (HQ) at kolkata as far as the finance function are concerned.
1) Pricing Concurrence:
SAIL has listed price for each product which are applicable throughout India. The listed prices are determined based on certain criteria. They are:
1. 2. 3. Landed price of import goods i.e, International price. Domestic Supply pattern. Market demand of the products.
The listed prices are generally reviewed on a quarterly basis. Although the listed prices are applicable through India, price is adjusted from region to region by allowing rebates. These rebates are decided upon by the regional officer considering the applicable local price. In
additional to this various other incentives viz, IFC, TOD, etc. as mentioned earlier are also allowed.
It is the responsibility of the Accounting Department to oversee the proper implementation of this guideline, applicable for each transaction.
3) Accounting:
Accounting in CMO is done under three broad categories of
1. 2. 3. Direct sale. Stockyard sale. Finally Consolation of Accounts.
4) Budgeting:
At the beginning of the year, the Head Office asks all regional office about there budget. The broad categories for which budgeting are done are:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Employee Remuneration and Benefit Stores Power and fuel Handling Expenses Postal and Telephone Expenses Rent
7. 8. 9.
10. Miscellaneous
In addition to these, budgeting is done for few more categories at HQ level for CMO as a whole are enumerated as below:
Gratuity Leave Retirement Benefit Interest Income Depreciation
For the regions each component of the budgeted into office and stockyard. By adding up the component wise budgets across all the levels the total amounts is arrived at. To this is added the special components of HQ budget to arrive at the financial figure. After obtaining the total figure it is sent to the Head of the Finance & Accounts Division and ultimately reaches the corporate office thought the Head of Unit. The budget is approved by the chairman of SAIL.
5) Monitoring Costs:
The Finance and Account division seeks monthly reports from the regions about these actual expenses as against their budgeted expenses. The HQ then performs variance analysis to find out any deviations from the budgeted figures. In case, there is any division the HQ asks for clarification of same from the concerned branch or unit and reports the same to end users.
Notional/branch key account customers MOU/tie up Payment schedule: on due date, beyond due date Consistency in lifting Interest payment including penal interest Furnishing of document
Credit rating is generally done for a year. But there is a regular monitoring of the customer performance is done.
7) Compliance of statutory obligationThe finance and account division also has to make arrangements for compliance to statutory obligations in dealing with Central Excise, Sales Tax and the Income Tax Departments.
4.3Role of Finance in SAIL's Marketing:Finance play vital role in SAIL's marketing. From all aspect there exist an inseparable relationship between finance on the one hand and marketing on the other hand, they are also dependent each other. In fact financial policies will be devised to fit marketing decisions of a firm in practice. Here Central Marketing Organization's (CMO) role is mostly concentrated in casting an influence over the sales figure. It drives all its effort into the analysis of demand, then forwarding implementation to the plants regarding customer needs, marinating consistent supply and above all, rendering an optimized customer satisfaction. CMO considers volume to be the center of focus as one of the most prioritized objectives to carry out its line of operation. Brand development, development of consumer based customers, dealer's development and maintaining market share are all the marketing aspects in context of CMO. While financial objective in marketing involves striving for -
Selling at optimum price Selling at optimum marketing cost To realize maximum sale proceeds CMO is also involved in the collection and management of cash and has the prerogative to decide on the feasibility of deals with customer, all directed towards the overall betterment of the company's position. Credit rating and Monitoring Cell (CRMC) here plays a crucial role in assessing the credit worthiness of the customers. From a narrower perspective, CMO get target from corporate office in New Delhi concerning the cash collection (Sale proceeds can be realized through barter system, cash, demand draft / bank cheque, e-receipts, channel financing) arena and therefore has to transfer and draw whatever funds received or required respectively from day to day operations. The corporate office serves as the apex body for managing the final cash account.
4.
All proposals for provision of credit shall be processed in Consultation with Associate Finance (ICWF). Secured credit facility may be extended to customers by the concerned executives as per the rules provided. Unsecured credit may be provided to customers with approval of the Director (Commercial).
. In case of proposals for unsecured credit received from any of the units/organization of Indian Railways or any defence related Organisations/Departments/Units including para-military forces directly under Home Ministry or other Central Ministry/Government of India, but excluding Public Sector Units (PSUs), the individual party-wise location-wise unsecured credit limit for such Organisations / Departments / Units may be approved by ED (M)-LP/FP, CMO in consultation with Finance.
I. Credit limit sanctioned for a customer may be operated at one or more branches as per operational guidelines.
Categorization of Customer
For the purpose of provision of material on credit, customers may be broadly divided into two categories, namely:
Category - 'I'
Central/State Govt. Departments Public Sector Undertaking (whose net worth is positive) Projects of National/State level importance, including those funded by International Financial agencies Private Companies (whose shares are traded regularly). Customers, with whom Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)/Tie-up has been executed.
Category - 'II'
Public Sector Undertaking (whose net worth is negative) Private Companies (whose shares are not traded regularly) Other Companies, Partnership/Proprietorship firms
While processing proposal for provision of credit, adequate attention should be paid to the second category of customers because of the relatively higher risks involved.
Credit Limits allowed to the customer:1. Based on prevailing market conditions and business needs, an overall limit for provision of secured and unsecured credit separately shall be fixed at the beginning of each financial year by the Director
(Commercial) in consultation with the Director (Finance). These limits may be revised in case of necessity, as per market condition. Credit, secured and unsecured, provided at any point of time, should not exceed the limit. 2. In case of provision of material against secured credit, the Branch Manager, in consultation with Associate Finance, shall issue material against valid banking document(s). Overall position of provision of secured credit shall be monitored at the regional level by the concerned Head of Finance. 3. Limit fixed for unsecured credit, shall be sub-allocated among various Regions by Headof Finance, CMO in consultation with Head of Long Product (LP)/Flat Product (FP). The Regional Managers shall suballocate the limit among the Branches under intimation to the Supervisory Officers. 4. Proposal for unsecured credit limit for individual customer shall be initiated by the Branch Manager in consultation with Associate Finance along with supporting documents and routed through the Regional office, Credit Rating and Monitoring Cell (CRMC), Head of Long/Flat product and Head of CMO Finance and decided as per guidelines with the approval of Director(Commercial).
In case of proposals for unsecured credit received from any of the units/organization of Indian Railways or any defence related Organisations/ Departments/Units including para-military forces directly under Home Ministry or other Central Ministry/Government of India, but excluding Public Sector Units (PSUs), the individual party-wise location-wise unsecured credit limit for such Organisations / Departments / Units may be approved by ED(M)-LP/FP, CMO in consultation with Finance.
I. Credit limit sanctioned for a customer may be operated at one or more branches as per operational guidelines.
In the case of Secure Credit overall constraint or ceiling with respect to the credit limit then the credit may be allowed within overall branch credit limit by judiciously fixing interest priority amongst customers.
In the case Unsecured Creditor it may extend to all customers in terms of guidelines issued from time to time, within the limits approved by director. Customer may be private sector, public sector, Government Department, Project and Trader. There are particular empowerment as to sanction credit period for interest free credit, interest borne credit or the combination of both which may range from sixty to ninety days and it may be extend up to one hundred twenty days in case of secured credit. In exceptional cases, credit once granted can be extended on sufficient grounds beyond the due data on the request of the customer. Credit period will commence from the date of delivery order in case of stockyard sales and from the eighth day of RR in case of Direct Sales. In the case of unsecured creditor, the request for unsecured credit would only be recommended after considering factors like
Status of the customer Record of payment Past performance Potential of performance in the current year and in future Importance of the business being sought Market image of the customer Financial results
If deemed fit branch would recommend the request to the regional office. Along with the credit proposals, the branch shall enclose the financial statements in respect of the customer desirably for the last three years. According to Sick Industrial Companies Act 1985, an industrial company was defined sick if it was registered for at least seven years, it incurred cash losses for the current and the proceeding year, and its net worth was eroded. In terms of SICA, the Government of India set up the board for industrial and financial reconstruction (BIFR) in January 1987. Industrial companies whose net worth had been eroded completely and those which had net worth eroded by 50% or more were required to take a reference to the BIFR under section 15 and 23 of the Act respectively. After receipt of the proposal at the regional level, regional manager and the associate finance manager would examine it with reference top various parameters and wherever deemed fit, proposal would be forwarded to the head of the product category being sought for.
Bank Guarantee (BG)/ Letter of Credit (LC) should preferably be received directly from the bank through post/courier.
Non-judicial stamp paper used in BG must be of requisite value and should be purchase on behalf of the issuing bank.
Written confirmation must be obtained from the issuing bank regarding the genuineness of LC/BG. Normally outstation BG should not be accepted. Amount of LC/BG should cover the amount of interest, if any. All LC's must be advised through the SAIL's bank (SBI).However, LC's of the scheduled bank can be negotiated directly with the opening/negotiating bank.
Description of goods as per LC should exactly match with the description as per invoices. All the LC's should be negotiated within the validity date. Payment should be received only from the bank.
Expiry date for the LC's are last date of delivery or last date of negotiation of documents. LC can also act as a standby document that if the same may not be negotiated for each and every transaction and be kept as standby.
At the time of availing unsecured credit for the first time corporate guarantee by the B.O.D and two personal guarantee bonds from two of its directors is to be furnished.
In addition to the above requirements, current dated cheques for full value of the material and interest if any with covering letter of undertaking to be taken.
6. CASH(CHEQUE) MANAGEMENT
Cheque limit has already been utilized, then to the extent of balance Cheque limit available, credit limit may be restored. In case of dishonor of Cheque, Cheque facility for such customers should be stopped with immediate effect. Due to operational reason if any excess delivery is to be given at the stockyard, Warehouse Manager/Stockyard Executive may accept Cheque from the customer to the extent of shortfall in effecting delivery of one piece/coil/packet/bundle of materials and restricted to the amount due from the customer in this regard. Cheque subject to realization may be accepted without any limit from any customer who either has not been granted any Cheque facility or the same has been withdrawn. Lifting of materials against Cheque/Demand Draft/Pay Orders submitted by new customer may be allowed subject to realization of such Cheque/Demand Draft/Pay Orders. However, if the BMs are satisfied with the credential of the customer, they may allow lifting of material immediately on receipt of Demand Draft/Pay Orders. The date of acceptance of Cheque is to be considered as date of payment except Cheque bouncing cases. List of the customers along with the limit up to which Cheque may be accepted should be made available to the cashier and the same should also be entered in the computer system. Cheque from customers whose names appear in the list may be accepted by any executive without any reference to BM up to the limit prescribed for each customer. If a customer who tenders a Cheque in excess of the limit specified or tenders a Cheque for an amount which along with the uncleared Cheque deposited on the previous days exceed the limit specified, the same should be brought to the notice of Branch Manager by Cashier/Finance Officer in writing and specifying
Amount of Cheque tendered by the customer. Amount of uncleared Cheque deposited on the previous days. Cheque limit established in favour of the customer.
Branch Manager may normally accept Cheque up to twice the individual limits on circumstances described above. However, in cases where the total amount of uncleared and freshly tendered Cheque deposited by a customer exceeds twice his individual Cheque limit, freshly tendered Cheque may be accepted only with prior clearance of RM. Branch Finance Officer should write to the bank requesting them to ensure that the intimation of dishonored Cheque is available with the Branch on the day of dishonor itself. Any case of dishonored Cheque should immediately be brought to the notice of the Branch
Manager. Cheque facility granted to such customer whose Cheque have been returned unpaid should be revoked with immediate effect. Information of dishonored Cheque should also be furnished by Branch Finance Officer to Stockyard In charge, Regional Finance in charge and Head of Finance. BM/ Finance In charge/ Dealing Officer should immediately contact the party for realization of payment of dishonored Cheque along with interest. If the payment is not forthcoming, actions should be initiated as per the guidelines issued separately on action to be taken on dishonor of Cheque. Cheque facility granted to such customer whose Cheque has been dishonored due to insufficient funds, effects not cleared, please present again, refer to drawer, etc., may be reinstated after a minimum period of 1 month after realization of payment along with interest with approval of RM. In case of dishonor due to stop payment, request for reinstatement, should normally not be considered. In case customer gives prior notice and the same is authorized by BM/ICWF approval of RM/ICWF may be obtained for reinstatement of Cheque facility. In case of dishonor of Cheque due to technical reasons, Cheque facility granted to such customers may be reinstated by RM/ICWF after satisfying that the balance was available on the day the Cheque was presented to their bank. Dishonored Cheque should not be represented to the bank at all if notice U/S 138 has been served. However, the same may be represented - - in cases where, the dishonor memo from the bank mentions to present again. - In case of Govt. Department, as advised by concerned Dept. /Treasury. On the request of the customer, dishonored Cheque may be returned after realization of payment along with interest. Branch Finance Officer should check the bank statement thoroughly and ensure that no Cheque has been represented by the bank at their level. In case they notice such cases, the matter should be taken up with the bank and reasons for representation should be obtained for taking appropriate action. In case of dishonored Cheque, penal rate of interest applicable for unsecured credit shall be recovered along with the value of the Cheque. If Cheque is received from customers, the same should not be entered as demand drafts or pay orders in the system. All current dated Cheque/demand drafts etc. should be deposited in the bank on the same day of receipt, failing which on the next bank working day, immediately following the date of
receipt. Any delay in deposit of Cheque/demand drafts must be reported by Branch Finance Officer to BM and Regional Finance In charge and also to Head of Finance. No immediate refund against MRCA/MR should be done without getting necessary confirmation regarding encashment of Cheque. One specific employee in the Branch is to be assigned the job of dealing with the bank for depositing the Cheque and collecting information relating to crediting to our account and honoring of Cheque by the drawee bank. Information relating to crediting of Cheque amount to our account and also honoring of the Cheque by the drawee bank shall be collected on daily basis from our banker. The information obtained as above, shall be entered into the system by the designated employee, so that the marketing executive who is in charge of issuing delivery orders can know that the Cheque received earlier from the same party have been duly honored.
6. NAME OF LEAD BANKER AS FURNISHED BY THE CUSTOMER: 7. Certificate from Bank through which normal transaction takes place with SAIL, stating nature of account and period of operation is required to be submitted by the customer, at the time of grant of Cheque facility. 8. RECOMMENDATIONS: CHEQUE FACILITY UPTO Rs.________________ TO M/S._____________________________________ GRANTED. BRANCH MANAGER ___________________
6.2 Way-out for Dishonors of Cheque. PART -A Noticeunder Sec. 138/142 ofthe Negotiable Instrument ACT
1. Dishonor of Cheque is a criminal offence in terms of Sec. 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (as amended), if Cheque are returned unpaid by the Bank and full payment covered by the dishonored Cheque(s) is not received within 15 days from the date of receipt of Notice u/s 138 of N I Act. By various judgments of Supreme Court dishonor of Cheque on any ground has been treated as punishable offence u/s 138 of N I Act. 2. As part of our commercial activities, payments are normally received through Cheque(s) from the customer(s). In case of unsecured credit customer(s) will be required to submit a Letter of Undertaking for availing unsecured credit as per Annexure-D of MS 30 of 2004 which is reproduced as Annexure -I in this guideline, along with filled in current dated Cheque(s) for full value of the material along with the interest, if any. No blank or undated Cheque should be obtained. 3. In case of dishonor of Cheque(s) Notice u/s 138 of N. I. Act is to be issued by registered post as well as by courier within 30 days from the date of receipt of intimation from our Banker returning the Cheque(s)
unpaid. Such notice can be sent by fax as well as by hand. But wherever notice is sent by hand a clear acknowledgement as a proof of delivery should be obtained. In the notice u/s 138 the Cheque amount and interest amount should be claimed separately. If any payment is received between the date of dishonor of Cheque(s) the acceptance and acknowledgement of such payment should be given only after the notice u/s 138 is issued. Notice u/s 138 should be issued to the Company/Firm as well as to the Director(s)/Partner(s) as well as other persons in charge and responsible for the conducting of business of the said company/firm so as to make them liable for prosecution in terms of sec 141 of N I Act. However, such Notice should not be issued to the Director(s) who are nominee by virtue of his/their holding any office or employment in the Central/State Government or in a financial Corporation owned or controlled by Central/State Govt. Wherever Notice is sent by fax/registered post/courier/by hand, the earliest date of transmission/service of Notice should be treated as the starting point of limitation of 30 days as per sec 142 of N I Act for filing complaint. A draft Notice is enclosed at Annexure II as a model. The content of Notice shall vary from case to case and hence same should be issued in consultation with Legal Cell, HQ/Regional Law. In any event Notice has to be issued within a period of 30 days from the date of receipt of our Banker's advice returning the Cheque(s) unpaid. 4. Once Notice u/s 138 is issued, the Cheque(s) should not be represented. However, in cases where the advice of the Bank returning Cheque unpaid is to the effect, say for example, "Fund Expected". "Present again", in such cases we may represent the Cheque provided the notice u/s. 138 has not been issued. In other words, Cheque(s) should not be represented if notice u/s. 138 has been issued. 5. In case of failure of the Director(s)/Partner(s) and other persons in charge and responsible for the conduct of the business of the concerned Company/Firm to pay the entire Cheque amount within the aforesaid period of 15 days from the date of receipt of the Notice, Criminal complaint in terms of Sec 138/142 of the N I Act has to be filed in consultation with Legal Cell/Regional Law, in the Court of the Metropolitan Magistrate/Judicial Magistrate, 1st class, within a period of one month from the expiry of the notice period of 15 days. The above time schedule should be strictly followed to avoid the criminal complaint being time barred in terms of section 142 of the N.I. Act. The model complaint as per Annexure III is enclosed as the guideline. However, Branch should consult Legal Cell HQ/Regional Law before filing the same in the Court.
For any clarification the matter may be referred to Legal Cell HQ/Regional Law on case to case basis.
the properties of the delinquent/defaulting customers even before judgment. For that, along with the Plaint a separate Petition under Order 38 Rule 5 of the CPC is also to be filed in consultation with the Legal Cell, HQ/Regional Law. 2. Further to the above, we should also file simultaneously another Petition the concerned High Court/Civil Court for appointment of an Advocate-Commissioner under Order 26 Rule 14 of the CPC for inspection of the Factory/Office premises of the delinquent/defaulting customer(s) for ascertaining full particulars of movable and immovable properties. The Advocate-Commissioner would prepare an Inventory for submitting it to the concerned Court. In addition, we should also try to ascertain, as fast as possible, the details of the assets, both movable and immovable, of the customer(s) including the Bank Account(s) of the delinquent/defaulting customers and furnish the same to the Court. On the basis of such information the Court may be requested, to pass an order of attachment before judgment under Order 38 Rule 5. 3. Another Petition, in addition to the other two Petitions referred to above, should also be filed along with the Plaint under Order 39 Rules 1 & 2 of the CPC for an order of injunction by the Court to restrain the delinquent/defaulting customer(s) their Director(s)/Partner(s) etc. from transferring/alienating and/or encumbering in any manner whatsoever, the properties, both movable and immovable, to any person(s) during the pendency of the Civil Suit. 4. Whether civil suit under Order 37 should be filed or ordinary civil suit for recovery of outstanding with interest is be filed, may be decided case to case basis in consultation with Legal Cell HQ. 5. Since the Civil Proceedings as referred to in Part-B involves payment of huge Court Fees and since period of limitation to file Civil Suit is three years from the date when the Bank returns the Cheque(s) unpaid, prior approval from Legal Cell/CMO/Kolkata and the Competent Authority must be obtained before initiating civil action. 6. Alternatively, winding up proceedings as per provisions of Section 439 of the Companies Act, 1956 can be initiated when defaulting customer is a Company in a situation where (a) payment of huge Court fees is involved (b) properties of the Company is under prior charge with Bank and other financial institutions. However, the winding up proceedings can be initiated only after serving Notice under Section 433 and 434 of the Companies Act. The winding up proceedings can be initiated with the approval of RM in consultation with Legal Cell.
PART-C FILING OF COMPLAINT FOR THE OFFENCE UNDER SEC.138 OF N. I. ACT AND SEC. 420 OF IPC
In view of the recent judgment of Supreme Court of India separate FIR for the offence u/s 420 IPC and filing of Cr. Complaint for the offence u/s 138 N I Act separately is not
permissible. Filing of composite complaint for the offence u/s 138 of N I Act and sec 420 IPC can be decided in consultation with Legal Cell HQ.
Annexure-I
M/s Steel Authority of India Limited, Dear Sirs, Re: Unsecured Credit Facility. Ref: Your Offer Letter No /Intimation Letter No. ___dated______ In response to your letter no._______dated______ enclosing therewith the above offer letter, I/we am/are submitting Cheque(s) bearing No.(s)_______________ dated ___________ for Rs.__________________ for payment and to discharge our liability towards the price of the materials sold and delivered to us as per your offer letter(s) on credit basis as well as interest accrued thereon @ _______% per annum for the aforesaid credit period. We also undertake to pay further interest at the aforesaid rate by separate Cheque for the extended credit period as may be made at our request. I/We further agree and undertake to pay interest at the rate ______ % per annum on the principal amount due w.e.f. the date of DO/RR/invoice/receipt of material in case of door delivery (strike off whichever is not necessary) till the date of payment for our failure to pay the entire dues within the initial credit period or within the extended period, as the case may be. I/We assure and undertake that as and when such Cheque(s) is/are presented to our Banker(s), the same will be honored by them and we will keep sufficient amount in our account for payment of the Cheque amount.
I/We further agree and undertake that we shall not instruct our Banker(s) to stop payment(s) of the Cheque(s) issued to you against our liability as aforesaid. I/We also undertake that we shall never issue any notice requesting you not to present the Cheque(s) issued by us on the respective due date(s). I/We am/are aware that on the basis of this undertaking and the Cheque(s) submitted by me/us, you have agreed to provide us unsecured credit and I/we submit that in the event of any default in honoring the Cheque(s) you are at liberty to take action against me/us for the dishonor of the Cheque(s) under the provisions of Section 138 of NI Act or any other legal action for recovery of the Cheque amount plus interest. Thanking you Yours faithfully
2.
You had purchased..MT of coke/pig iron/ steel worth Rs from the aforesaid Steel Authority of India Limited, on . (date), vide D.O. No dated and had delivered an account payee Cheque no . Dated .. On . (date) for Rs(Rupees .) only, drawn on ..Bank being the purchase price as per usual terms of purchase of Steel Authority of India Limited, products. You had forwarded the Cheque vide a forwarding letter no .. Dated ..
3.
We had deposited the Cheque in our account in Bank, during the period of validity of the Cheque, on (Date), which has been returned by the bank on . (Date) with the following comment..
4.
It therefore, appears that you had obtained the D.O. / endorsed R.R / endorsed Lorry Receipt through false representations, mischievously defrauded and cheated the company.
TAKE NOTICE THEREFORE that you are called upon to pay the following amounts within fifteen days of receipt of this Notice, failing which we shall initiate legal proceedings for the recovery of the said amount, criminal proceedings for cheating and fraud, and shall also prosecute you under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 :
1. 2. 3. Amount for which the Cheque was Issued Rs . Bank charges Rs . Interest Rs..
And in these cases you shall be liable to pay the cost of the proceedings, and interest also. This is WITHOUT PREJUDICE to any other legal remedy that Steel Authority of India Limited, may like to avail of, including other legal proceedings / execution / distress etc. Yours faithfully, Date : Steel Authority of India Limited, Place (BRANCH MANAGER)
Annexure-III COMPLAINT UNDER SECTION 142 OF THE NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS ACT, 1881 In the Court of the Metropolitan Magistrate (District )
Complaint Case No. of 200 (Under Section 142 of the Negotiable Instruments Act) The Steel Authority of India Limited ...Payee/Complaint Vs. .. (Name of Opp. Party) .. Drawer/Opp. Party
To the Hon'ble Judge of the aforesaid Court, the humble complainant begs to say as under:
1. That the Drawer/Opp. Party had requested to be allowed to pay by Cheque for purchase of materials, more fully described in the Schedule, valued at Rs.. The complaint had agreed to the request, and had issued Delivery Order for the said materials purchased/enclosed Railway Receipt/Lorry Receipt in favour of the Opp. Party. 2. The opposite party drew up a Cheque on . (date) for the sale value as per the usual terms of sale, being Cheque no .. for Rs.(Rupees .only) drawn on Bank,Branch, in favour of the complainant. As agreed between the parties, the Cheque was dated ., and the Cheque was valid for a period of three months from the said date of the Cheque. The Opp. Party also made certain representations regarding the Cheque, as contained in the letter of the Opp. Party no. dated 3. The opp. Party has thereupon received delivery of the materials from Stockyard of the complainant on (Note : This is only required in case of D.O. as in case of Railway Receipt / Lorry Receipt, the little passes on endorsement of the receipt.) 4. The aforesaid Cheque was presented before the Bank On , well within the validity period of the Cheque, and on it was being matured for payment. But the said bank returned the Cheque unpaid On with the remark refer to drawer', that is on account of there being insufficiency of funds in the account of the Drawer/Opp. Party and the drawee bank. 5. That thereafter the complainant, vide his Notice no. dated, demand payment of the amount of the Cheque. The aforesaid Notice was served on the Opp. Party on. 6. Despite service of the Notice, the Opp. Party did not pay the said amount and interest thereon up to date to the complainant within 15 days of the service of the said Notice.
7.
The Opp. Party, in order to cheat and defraud the complainant and without any intention to pay for the goods purchased by the Opp. Party from the complainant, had issued the above noted Cheque, knowing fully well that it was bound to be dishonored, and induced the complainant to part with the materials.
IT IS THEREFORE PRAYED, that the Hon'ble Court may be pleased to prosecute the Opp. Party u/s 138 of the Negotiable Act, 1881 and penalize him thereunder. Verification Sd/ Complainant ...