If the bill was not accepted or paid for, the possessor may exercise his rights of recourse against indirect debtors after accomplishing preserving acts (i.e. after presenting the bill, or after properly protesting the bill). For these persons a potential danger, which has not been perhaps taken quite seriously, becomes a real and very topical matter.
Article I, Section 45, BECA, imposes a notification duty on certain persons so that the debtors are informed as soon as possible about the bill being in distress (i.e. that it was not accepted or paid for) and, consequently, about the danger of possible recourse against them. In the Czech law notification is not a preserving act; a person who does not give notice within the limit of time does not forfeit his rights. He is responsible for the injury, if any, caused by his negligence, but the damages shall not exceed the amount of the bill of exchange. The holder must give notice of non-acceptance or non-payment to his endorsers and to the drawer within the four working days which follow the day for protest or, in case of a stipulation "free of expenses", the day for presentment. Every endorser must within the two working days following the day on which he receives notice, notify his endorser of the notice, notify his endorsers of the notice he has received, mentioning the names and addresses of those who have given the previous notices, and so on through the series until the drawer is reached. The periods run from the receipt of the preceding notice. When notice is given to a person who has signed a bill, the same notice must be given within the same limit of time to his aval. The notice may be given in any form whatever, even by simply returning the bill of exchange. A person who must give notice must prove that he has given notice within the time allowed.