Step 1: Get your documents in order (day 1)
- Invoice(s) with GSTIN and due date
- Purchase order, email or message confirming the order
- Delivery challan, e-way bill, lorry receipt or acceptance of service
- Ledger statement and every message about the payment
- Udyam certificate if you are a micro or small enterprise
- Cheque and bank return memo if a cheque bounced
Step 2: Send a written reminder with a statement of account (days 1–7)
Email and WhatsApp a polite but formal reminder with the statement attached and a clear date. Keep it short. This creates a record; many buyers pay here.
Step 3: Call the decision-maker, not the clerk (days 7–14)
Speak to the owner or finance head. Ask for a date and confirm it in writing afterwards. If you are an MSME, mention that interest at three times the bank rate is accruing under the MSMED Act.
Step 4: Legal notice (day 15 onwards, or day 1 if a cheque bounced)
A notice from an advocate puts the buyer on record and starts statutory timelines. For a bounced cheque it is mandatory within 30 days of the return memo. FundRaksha sends it within 24 hours of your documents, at no upfront cost.
Step 5: Choose the legal route if the notice is ignored
| Situation | Route | Where, for Bengaluru |
|---|---|---|
| Udyam-registered supplier, payment over 45 days late | MSME Samadhaan | Karnataka Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council |
| Cheque bounced | Section 138 complaint | Metropolitan Magistrate courts at the Mayo Hall and Nrupathunga Road court complexes for Section 138 |
| Invoice or contract dues, no real dispute | Summary suit | City Civil Court and the Bengaluru Commercial Courts for recovery suits. |
| Contract with arbitration clause | Arbitration | Tribunal per the clause |
Recovering B2B dues in Bengaluru: what is specific here
Bengaluru’s dues are dominated by service invoices: IT vendors, staffing agencies, SaaS subscriptions and consultants billing startups and large companies in Whitefield, Electronic City and the ORR corridor. Written contracts and emails are usually strong, which makes a legal notice followed by a summary suit effective; garment exporters in Peenya and Bommanahalli have more conventional trade dues.
Main industries: IT and software services, startups and SaaS, garments and apparel exports, aerospace and precision engineering and electronics.
Courts: Metropolitan Magistrate courts at the Mayo Hall and Nrupathunga Road court complexes for Section 138; City Civil Court and the Bengaluru Commercial Courts for recovery suits.
MSME claims: Udyam-registered micro and small suppliers in Bengaluru file on MSME Samadhaan, heard by the Karnataka Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council (Directorate of Industries and Commerce, Government of Karnataka, Bengaluru). The Council sits where the supplier is, so a Bengaluru supplier can pursue a buyer in another state from home.
Step 6: Secure the settlement
Get any payment plan in writing with dates and post-dated cheques or a mandate. A missed instalment then has its own remedy.