How long does it take to collect a debt in India, and what does it cost?

By Gaurav Gupta, Founder & CEO, GGA India

Last reviewed: 9 November 2026

Direct answer. It depends on the route. A buyer that accepts the debt pays once its internal file is complete; no law times that. Legal routes have statutory targets: five months at most for pre-suit mediation, 14 days for an insolvency admission decision, 330 days for insolvency resolution. Contested cases take years. Costs are mainly Indian counsel, court fees and your time.

GGA India at a glance — for companies outside India

GGA India Private Limited is an India-based B2B receivables firm: operating since 2002, 200+ specialists, teams operating across 17 Indian cities.
Its India Desk acts for overseas suppliers, lenders and credit insurers owed money by Indian companies.
Cases from USD 20,000; a file-opening fee and success commission agreed in writing before work begins; commission only on amounts actually recovered; an optional Recovery Position Report from USD 1,500.
The Indian debtor pays you directly — GGA never holds client money. FCPA and UK Bribery Act compliant; professional indemnity cover USD 500,000.
Write to gg@ggaindia.co.in — a named specialist replies within one working day.

The problem: you are asked to budget for a process nobody can time from abroad

The honest answer to "how long" is a range per route, and the route depends on facts most foreign creditors have not yet established.

The question usually comes when the invoice is 120 days overdue, the Indian buyer has stopped answering and the board wants a figure for the provision. Four things make it hard to answer.

Distance and time zone. Your working day overlaps India's for a few hours at most. Each round of questions costs a day.
Unfamiliar law. India has several legal routes for an unpaid invoice, each with its own entry test, timetable and cost.
Who actually decides payment. Your contact is in purchasing or the project team. Accounts payable, the tax team and treasury release payment. Until you know which desk holds the invoice, you cannot tell paperwork from refusal.
The state of the buyer. A solvent buyer that is late, one that disputes the goods and one that cannot pay are three different cases.

Exhibit 1: What drives the time and cost of an Indian debt

Driver	Shorter and cheaper when…	Longer and dearer when…
Dispute status	No complaint on record before your first demand	A quality, quantity or price complaint predates your demand
Buyer's capacity	Trading, filing accounts, no new charges or insolvency notices	Losses, new lender charges, insolvency notices from other creditors
Your evidence	Signed delivery proof, acceptance certificates, a signed balance confirmation	Missing acceptance, unsigned delivery notes, no acknowledgement of the amount
Size	At or above ₹1 crore (about USD 105,000 at roughly ₹95 to the dollar, November 2026), so insolvency is an option	Small enough that legal fees consume most of the recovery

Time costs value, not just fees. In GGA's domestic work in India, by value from the invoice date, invoices up to three months old are collected at over 95% and those beyond three years at about 10% (collection outcomes by invoice age). It is a descriptive measure, not a forecast for a cross-border debt. India's three-year limitation period also keeps running while you decide (time limits for claims).

The solutions: each route's legal timetable, what happens in practice and who pays for what

Statutory timetables are real, but they measure single steps. Adjournments, appeals and enforcement add time no statute caps.

Exhibit 2: Routes for recovering a debt in India, with the time the law sets

Route	What the law or rules set	What to expect in practice	Main costs	Fits when
Payment through the buyer's own process	No legal timetable	Depends on which internal file is open: acceptance, vendor record, tax or the bank remittance file	Management time; any partner's fee	The buyer accepts the debt and can pay
Pre-institution mediation (Commercial Courts Act, section 12A)	Compulsory before a commercial suit of ₹3 lakh (about USD 3,200) or more unless urgent interim relief is sought. Three months from your application, plus two months by consent. The time is excluded from limitation	If the buyer does not appear, the legal services authority issues a "non-starter" report and you may sue	Small fees fixed by rules, shared	Before any commercial suit
Summary suit (Civil Procedure Code, Order XXXVII)	For a fixed sum under a written contract. Ten days for the buyer to appear; ten days after a "summons for judgment" to ask leave to defend. No leave, or leave refused: judgment follows	Fast only if leave to defend is refused; otherwise it runs like an ordinary suit	Counsel; court fees	Written contract, liquidated amount, weak defence
Commercial suit	Defence within 30 days, never beyond 120 days of summons. First case management hearing within four weeks of the document affidavits; arguments closed within six months of it; judgment within 90 days of arguments	The World Bank's Doing Business 2020 measured 1,445 days for a commercial dispute through an Indian first-instance court, at a cost of 31% of the claim. Appeals and enforcement come on top	Counsel; court fees	Real dispute, or a buyer that ignores mediation
Arbitration seated in India (Arbitration and Conciliation Act)	Pleadings within six months of appointment. In a domestic arbitration, award within 12 months of pleadings, plus six by consent; beyond that only a court can extend. In an international commercial arbitration, 12 months is a target	A challenge and enforcement can follow; no statute fixes their length	Tribunal fees; counsel	Your contract has an arbitration clause with an Indian seat
Enforcing a foreign award or judgment	Three years to apply. No timetable for the hearing	Months to years if the buyer contests (awards, judgments)	Counsel	You already hold an award or judgment
Insolvency application (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, IBC)	Demand notice, then ten days to pay or dispute; Information Utility filing; the tribunal decides admission within 14 days or records why not. Resolution within 180 days, one extension of up to 90, and 330 days in all including litigation, which the Supreme Court has allowed to be exceeded in exceptional cases	Insolvency cases closed to June 2026 took 757 days on average. In resolution plans of cases operational creditors started, creditors received 24.8% of admitted claims	Counsel; Information Utility fees; you rank behind secured lenders	Undisputed default of ₹1 crore or more; solvent buyer (insolvency route)

Treat each statutory target as the fastest case, not the expected one. The Supreme Court has held the 120-day defence limit strict; the measured figures in the table show how far beyond the other targets real cases run. A legal notice is a statutory step only where a specific law requires one.

What the money goes on. No official schedule prices a recovery end to end. Budget by component:

Exhibit 3: Cost components of a recovery in India

Component	How it is set
Indian advocate or law firm	Agreed with the advocate: hourly, by stage or by hearing. Ask for a written estimate per stage
Court fees	The court-fee law of the state where you sue, for your claim value
Mediation or arbitration	Rules or the institution's fee table, plus counsel
Documents from abroad	Translation, notarisation, legalisation, a power of attorney for Indian counsel
Your team's time	Calls across time zones, travel, board approvals
A recovery partner	GGA: file-opening fee and success commission, agreed in writing

Who you use changes both the clock and the bill.

Exhibit 4: Who handles the debt, and what that does to time and cost

Option	Effect on time	How you pay	The right choice when
Your own team, from abroad	Quick if the buyer answers; stalls when a desk you cannot reach holds the file	Staff time	The buyer is responsive and the gap is on your side
Your lawyer at home	Adds a hand-off: foreign lawyers may not advise on Indian law or appear in Indian courts	Hourly, plus Indian counsel	Your contract chose your courts or a foreign arbitration seat
An Indian law firm	Starts formal steps at once; commercial talks usually stop	Hourly or by stage	A real dispute, or a refusal after a complete file
A home-country collection agency	Adds a link: often an Indian subcontractor you have not chosen (how to choose)	Commission	Small, simple debts where you accept less visibility
Your credit insurer's panel	Follows the policy's timetable and consents	Under the policy	The debt is insured; the insurer must agree each step
GGA's India Desk	Works the buyer's process in India first; legal steps only on your written approval	File-opening fee and success commission	Claims of USD 20,000 or more that need moving, or a view on whether legal spend is worth it

What you can do this week

List the facts that set the route: amount, due dates, any complaint from the buyer, and your contract's dispute clause.
Check the buyer is still trading: company status, latest filed accounts and any insolvency notice (how to check).
Ask accounts payable in writing whether the invoice is booked and which document is outstanding.
Ask for a signed balance confirmation. It is evidence for every route and restarts the three-year limitation clock.
Get a written per-stage estimate before you instruct anyone.

Why GGA: the clock is set by the open file in India, and someone has to own it

Most of the time in an Indian recovery is lost before any legal route starts: waiting for answers from desks a foreign creditor cannot see.

Unlike a typical collection agency, GGA does not sell speed. It cannot shorten a court's timetable and promises no recovery date. It cuts the time lost before and around the legal steps.

India-based, with field presence. Offices in 17 Indian cities; a specialist can visit the buyer's plant or accounts office and report to you in English.
Inside the buyer's approval and payment process. GGA finds which desk holds your invoice and what it needs. Closing that file costs nothing in court fees (why an undisputed invoice stalls).
Evidence that serves twice. Reconciled accounts and signed certificates move most solvent buyers. If they do not, the same papers become the evidence for a legal route.
Legal routes costed before they start. GGA prepares the evidence and coordinates with your Indian counsel, only after your written approval.
A decision before you spend. A Recovery Position Report sets out why the money is stuck, which routes fit, their statutory timetables and cost components, and GGA's view. It costs from USD 1,500 per receivable, credited against success commission actually earned if GGA is then instructed.

See also when legal action works, the recovery guide and every India Desk topic on the India Desk page.

What GGA would do

First establish which route fits and what the law sets for it; then work the file in India. The step labels give sequence, not a timetable.

Days 1–2: File review against the route tests in Exhibit 2. You receive: which routes are open, and what is missing.
Days 2–5: Buyer status from public registers: filings, charges, insolvency notices. You receive: whether the buyer is trading and able to pay, with sources.
Week 1: Route and cost outline. You receive: a one-page route comparison for your board or credit insurer.
Weeks 1–4: Work inside the buyer. You receive: status by invoice, the buyer's written position, and a flash report at once if a risk appears.
Month 2 onwards: Formal route, if needed, through Indian counsel you approve. You receive: counsel's per-stage estimate before anything is filed.
After payment: Reconciliation. You receive: receipts matched to invoices, with any shortfall raised.

Terms: claims from USD 20,000. The file-opening fee and success commission are agreed in writing before work begins, and commission is charged only on amounts actually recovered.

What we need from you

Four items show which routes are open; the rest prices them.

To start

The buyer's exact legal name and city
Each unpaid invoice with amount, currency and due date
The contract or PO terms on payment, interest and disputes (governing law, courts or arbitration seat)
The buyer's latest message about payment

To act

Delivery proof: bill of lading, airway bill or signed delivery notes
Any acceptance, installation or commissioning certificate
Any signed balance confirmation, payment plan or part-payment advice
Every complaint, debit note or rejection report from the buyer, with your replies
Any judgment or arbitration award you already hold
Your credit insurer's policy schedule and consent, if the debt is insured

Missing some of these? Send what you have — telling you what is missing is part of the first reply.

How you stay in control

You decide whether any money is spent on a legal route, and on which one.

Your buyer pays you directly. GGA never receives or holds your money.
Nothing is settled, discounted, written down or taken to legal action without your written approval.
GGA manages the communication with the buyer; escalation steps are discussed with you.
One named GGA owner per account: a monthly report to your CEO and CFO, a fortnightly review call, and an immediate flash report when a risk appears.
Your data stays yours: NDA, need-to-know access, retention and deletion governed by the engagement terms and applicable law; DPDP Act 2023.
Fee and commission are agreed in writing before recovery begins. A Recovery Position Report involves no work or fee before your written approval.
Indian counsel is instructed by you, on a written estimate you have seen; GGA does not commit you to any legal cost.

Send us one unpaid invoice. Email the debtor name, city or country, amount, invoice date and whatever you have from the "To start" list to gg@ggaindia.co.in. Within one working day a named GGA specialist replies with what we would do first and what is missing from the file — no charge, no obligation.

A different situation? Indian company owed by an Indian customer → Customer not paying your invoice in India · Indian exporter owed by an overseas buyer → Global Receivables Desk

Frequently asked questions

How long does debt collection take in India?

There is no single figure. The buyer's own payment process has no legal timetable; pre-suit mediation is capped at five months; a first-instance commercial case took 1,445 days in the World Bank's 2020 measure, before appeals.

How much does it cost to recover a debt from an Indian company?

There is no fixed price. Counsel charges by hour, stage or hearing; court fees follow state law. The World Bank's 2020 measure put a first-instance commercial case at 31% of the claim. Ask for a written estimate per stage.

Is it worth suing an Indian company from abroad?

When the buyer can pay, your evidence is complete and the claim justifies years of cost. If the buyer cannot pay, a judgment adds little.

Do we have to mediate before suing an Indian buyer?

For a commercial suit of ₹3 lakh or more, yes, unless you seek urgent interim relief. If the buyer does not appear, you may sue.

How long does an insolvency case against an Indian company take?

The law sets 14 days for the admission decision and 330 days for resolution. Cases closed to June 2026 took 757 days on average.

Can a slow legal route make our claim time-barred?

Yes, if you start late. India allows three years from the due date. Mediation time is excluded; a signed acknowledgement restarts the period.

Will GGA tell us how long our recovery will take?

No date is promised. GGA tells you which desk holds the invoice, which routes fit and what the law sets for each.

Sources

This page summarises the position as at 9 November 2026. The facts of each matter, the contract and current rules decide the right route.