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 Guntur |
|---|---|---|
| Udyam-registered supplier, payment over 45 days late | MSME Samadhaan | Andhra Pradesh Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council |
| Cheque bounced | Section 138 complaint | Judicial Magistrate courts, Guntur, for Section 138 |
| Invoice or contract dues, no real dispute | Summary suit | District Court, Guntur, and its Commercial Court for recovery suits. |
| Contract with arbitration clause | Arbitration | Tribunal per the clause |
Recovering B2B dues in Guntur: what is specific here
Guntur runs Asia’s largest chilli market and a large cotton and tobacco trade, where commission agents and traders extend credit to buyers across India. Commodity dues are high-value and often cheque-based; Section 138 and a prompt legal notice with the sale documents are the usual recovery path.
Main industries: chilli and spice trading, cotton and tobacco, agri-processing, construction materials and education.
Courts: Judicial Magistrate courts, Guntur, for Section 138; District Court, Guntur, and its Commercial Court for recovery suits.
MSME claims: Udyam-registered micro and small suppliers in Guntur file on MSME Samadhaan, heard by the Andhra Pradesh Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council (Commissionerate of Industries, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Vijayawada/Amaravati). The Council sits where the supplier is, so a Guntur 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.