The Commercial Courts Act, 2015 sets up Commercial Courts at the district level and Commercial Divisions and Appellate Divisions in High Courts to hear "commercial disputes" (including ordinary transactions of merchants, traders and financiers, such as unpaid supply invoices) of a specified value of ₹3 lakh or more. It requires pre-institution mediation under Section 12A unless urgent interim relief is sought, imposes a 120-day outer limit for the written statement, provides for case management hearings and summary judgment, and directs costs to follow the event.
How the Commercial Courts Act works in India
A supplier's suit for unpaid invoices of ₹3 lakh or more is a commercial dispute. Unless it needs urgent interim relief (such as attachment before judgment), the supplier first applies to the District Legal Services Authority for pre-institution mediation. If mediation fails or the buyer does not participate, a non-settlement report is issued and the suit is filed in the Commercial Court. The buyer must file its written statement within 120 days at most. The court holds a case management hearing, fixes dates for evidence and arguments, and can grant summary judgment if the buyer has no real prospect of defending. Appeals go to the Commercial Appellate Division within 60 days.
Why it matters for getting paid
The hard 120-day deadline for the written statement and the summary judgment power remove the usual delay tactics. Mediation under Section 12A itself resolves a good share of trade disputes, with a settlement enforceable like an arbitral award. For claims that qualify, the Commercial Court is now the preferred civil forum. See specified value, pre-institution mediation and summary suit.
How FundRaksha uses it
For non-MSME clients with claims of ₹3 lakh and above, FundRaksha's advocates run the Section 12A mediation seriously, since it is an early settlement opportunity, and then file in the Commercial Court with a summary judgment application where the documents are clean. Across ₹50 Cr+ of invoices handled, the company has seen that strict timelines move buyers. Fee: 30% of recovery; court fees are the client's.
Worked example (hypothetical)
An Ahmedabad dye manufacturer (a medium enterprise, so outside Samadhaan) is owed ₹22,00,000 on invoices against a rate contract with 18% interest on delay. The specified value is above ₹3 lakh, so the dispute is commercial. Notice is ignored. Mediation under Section 12A is applied for on 1 April; the buyer attends one session and offers 50%; the mediator issues a non-settlement report on 15 June. The suit is filed on 1 July; the time from 1 April to 15 June is excluded from limitation. The written statement is filed on day 118. At the case management hearing the court fixes a summary judgment hearing; the buyer settles for ₹22,00,000 plus ₹3,96,000 interest (18% × 12 months, simple).
Last reviewed: 2026-10-08. Information for Indian businesses; not legal advice.