Partial Payment of a Cheque

Partial payment is a feature of the reformed UAE cheque regime: when a cheque is presented and the account holds less than the face value, the bank must offer to pay the available balance rather than simply returning the cheque, unless the holder refuses. The holder takes the partial amount, the bank annotates the cheque, and the instrument remains an execution document for the unpaid remainder — the holder can go directly to the execution court for the balance without first suing on the merits. This mechanism, introduced with the cheque amendments to the Commercial Transactions Law, was designed to improve recovery and reduce the criminal caseload that bounced cheques once generated. For drawers it means a low balance no longer fully blocks payment; for holders it changes presentation strategy and record-keeping, since the annotated cheque is the key enforcement paper. You meet it at the bank counter the day a cheque you deposited turns out to be only partly covered.