What makes an invoice recoverable
Most unpaid invoices are recoverable if three things exist: proof the goods or services were ordered, proof they were delivered or performed, and the invoice itself. In practice that means a purchase order or email, a delivery challan, e-way bill, lorry receipt or acceptance mail, and a GST invoice with the buyer’s GSTIN. The buyer’s own replies (“we will pay next week”) are an admission that strengthens the claim.
Your GST filings help too: an invoice reported in GSTR-1 and reflected in the buyer’s GSTR-2B shows the buyer accepted the supply and claimed input credit on it.
Invoice recovery for Kanpur businesses: our process
- Free assessment of the invoices and documents, including ageing and the buyer’s pattern of payment.
- Legal notice within 24 hours, itemising each invoice, the GST details, the due dates and the interest claimed.
- Advocate negotiation, usually ending in full payment or a signed instalment plan with post-dated payments.
- If needed: MSME Samadhaan at the Uttar Pradesh Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council for Udyam suppliers, Section 138 for cheques, or a summary suit on the invoices.
Recovering B2B dues in Kanpur: what is specific here
Kanpur’s leather cluster in Jajmau and its hosiery and engineering units supply traders and brands across north India, frequently on 90-day credit with post-dated cheques. Exporters face a separate set of problems with overseas buyers. For domestic dues, Section 138 and MSME Samadhaan are the workhorses, backed by a legal notice that puts the buyer on record.
Main industries: leather and footwear, textiles and hosiery, engineering and fabrication, plastics and defence and ordnance supply.
Courts: Judicial Magistrate courts, Kanpur Nagar, for Section 138; District Court, Kanpur Nagar, and its Commercial Court for recovery suits.
MSME claims: Udyam-registered micro and small suppliers in Kanpur file on MSME Samadhaan, heard by the Uttar Pradesh Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council (Directorate of Industries, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Kanpur). The Council sits where the supplier is, so a Kanpur supplier can pursue a buyer in another state from home.
Interest you can add to an unpaid invoice
Udyam-registered micro and small suppliers can claim compound interest at three times the RBI bank rate from the day after the 45-day limit (or the agreed shorter date). Other suppliers can claim interest under the contract, or at a reasonable rate through the court under the Interest Act, 1978. Our notices always include the interest claim; buyers often settle the principal quickly to avoid it.