The Consumer Council will ask the Governor of the Bank of Israel to examine the possibility to declare the deposit of a bounced check as a "service under supervision".
One of the tests of fair price is the difference between the cost of operation for the service provider, and the price he charges. It seems that we have another example in which a customer has to pay substantial sums as a commission, without having any way of knowing in advance if he is going to be required to pay for it, without having the ability to influence its occurrence and while he has no responsibility justifying the billing.
Israel Consumer Council CEO, lawyer Mr. Ehud Peleg: "In a situation of bounced check, both sides – the person who delivered the check and the depositor - pay a commission. This situation is absurd, since the depositor, who has done nothing wrong, pays a "fine" because the person who wrote the check with insufficient funds to cover it was negligent and wrote a technically damaged check or even made a mistake when writing it. The Consumer Council will turn to the Governor of the Bank of Israel, Dr Karnit Flug, and will ask her to examine the need to declare the deposit of a bounced check as a "service under supervision" and determine a reasonable maximum commission that will be under supervision".
According data previously published by the business information company BDI, there has been an increase in the quantity of bounced checks in 2012. The number of checks refused due to insufficient funds was estimated at about 1.53 million, for a total of 6.4 billion NIS.
According to the tariffs of the banks, for a bounced check, the depositor will pay an average commission of NIS 16.80. The person who wrote the check will pay an average commission of NIS 61.80 in case there is no sufficient fund to cover the check and NIS 18.90 in case the check was refused due to technical reasons.
