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 Surat 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 Gujarat Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council for Udyam suppliers, Section 138 for cheques, or a summary suit on the invoices.
Recovering B2B dues in Surat: what is specific here
Surat’s textile market runs on credit: weavers, processors and traders in Ring Road, Sahara Darwaja and Pandesara routinely wait 60 to 120 days, and parties in other states sometimes simply stop answering. Because many transactions are between traders, the right route depends on the paperwork: bounced cheques go under Section 138, manufacturers with Udyam registration can use MSME Samadhaan, and trading dues go by notice, settlement and a recovery suit.
Main industries: synthetic textiles and sarees, diamond cutting and polishing, embroidery and jari, chemicals and dyes and packaging.
Courts: Judicial Magistrate First Class courts at the Athwalines court complex for Section 138; District Court, Surat, and its Commercial Court for recovery suits.
MSME claims: Udyam-registered micro and small suppliers in Surat file on MSME Samadhaan, heard by the Gujarat Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council (Industries Commissionerate, Government of Gujarat, Gandhinagar). The Council sits where the supplier is, so a Surat 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.