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 Nagpur |
|---|---|---|
| Udyam-registered supplier, payment over 45 days late | MSME Samadhaan | Maharashtra Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Councils (regional councils for Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Amravati regions) |
| Cheque bounced | Section 138 complaint | Judicial Magistrate First Class courts, Nagpur, for Section 138 |
| Invoice or contract dues, no real dispute | Summary suit | District Court, Nagpur, and its Commercial Court for recovery suits |
| Contract with arbitration clause | Arbitration | Tribunal per the clause |
Recovering B2B dues in Nagpur: what is specific here
Nagpur’s position at the centre of India makes it a logistics and distribution hub in Butibori and MIHAN, and a supplier base for power, mining and steel companies in Vidarbha. Transport operators and distributors here carry freight and stock dues from large companies; MSME units supplying PSUs can use Samadhaan, and the Nagpur Bench handles larger disputes.
Main industries: logistics and warehousing, agri-trading and oranges, steel and power equipment, mining supply and pharma distribution.
Courts: Judicial Magistrate First Class courts, Nagpur, for Section 138; District Court, Nagpur, and its Commercial Court for recovery suits; the Bombay High Court Nagpur Bench for high-value matters.
MSME claims: Udyam-registered micro and small suppliers in Nagpur file on MSME Samadhaan, heard by the Maharashtra Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Councils (regional councils for Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Amravati regions) (Directorate of Industries, Government of Maharashtra, Mumbai, and regional Joint Director of Industries offices). The Council sits where the supplier is, so a Nagpur 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.