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What does a collection agency cost in India, and what does GGA charge?

By GGA India

Last reviewed: 9 November 2026

Direct answer. GGA agrees fees in writing before work begins. For domestic receivables assignments, the written schedule defines the success-commission basis and any file-opening or separately approved charges. Success commission is linked to cash actually received; it does not mean every type of cost disappears if nothing is collected. Cross-border recovery and optional reports have their own terms, set out below. GST is extra where applicable.

GGA India at a glance

What is probably going on

Compare the fee with the cost of waiting, not with zero. Overdue money costs you every month in three ways:

  1. Cost of capital. ₹25 crore overdue at a 12% cost of capital costs ₹3 crore a year, before a rupee is lost. If you borrow while customers owe you, you are paying this.
  2. Age and collection outcomes. Collection rates fall from over 95% at three months to about 10% beyond three years (Exhibit 1). If an account rolled into the next band this quarter, it lost value.
  3. Management time. If senior staff chase old balances instead of current billing, this cost is running.

Invoice age is one scoping factor, alongside disputes, documentation, geography and the work required. A newer invoice is not automatically easy and an older claim is not automatically uncollectable. Agree the actual fee schedule for the engagement.

The pattern behind it. Every rupee of fee is weighed against revenue sold but not collected, and the cost of waiting grows from both directions: inside, no single owner stops invoices ageing into the next band; outside, the customer's process sets the pace. GGA prices the Invoice Lifecycle Owner role — one owner from submission to cash — on what reaches your bank, which is why the fee follows age. See how this works for corporate customers.

How the fee works

The written schedule defines the fee basis before work starts. Historical collection outcomes below explain the work—not a public commission rate card.

Exhibit 1: How the work changes with invoice age when work starts, and the benchmark collection rate

Invoice-age band (from invoice date) What the work usually involves Historical internal collection outcome
New invoices (invoice to due date) Validating documents, getting into the payment run Prevention; paid on time
Up to 3 months from invoice date Reconciling, clearing process blocks More than 95% collected by value
3–6 months from invoice date Resolving disputes and deductions 85–90% collected by value
6–12 months Rebuilding the document trail 65–70% collected by value
12–24 months Full reconstruction; contacts changed 40–45% collected by value
24–36 months Evidence-led; legal route assessed 15–20% collected by value
Over 36 months Last resort; classification with evidence Approximately 10% collected by value

Collection outcomes: GGA rolling internal benchmark, by value and invoice age; descriptive, not a forecast. Legal and Risk exclusions and changing cohorts are explained in the linked methodology. Commission bands are separately defined in the written fee schedule.

What is not charged

Success commission follows receipts; separately agreed charges must be distinguished.

Cross-border cases

A file-opening fee plus success commission, both agreed in writing before recovery begins.

For World → India (India Desk) and India → World (Global Receivables Desk): cases from USD 20,000; commission only on amounts actually recovered. An optional Recovery Position Report costs from USD 1,500 per receivable (Indian Debtor RPR or Foreign Debtor RPR), credited against commission earned if GGA is then instructed.

What it returns

On working capital, cutting DSO from 96 to 56 days on ₹500 crore of revenue releases ₹54.79 crore.

Legal costs are paid whether or not you recover.

GGA does not act in court; it builds the evidence pack for your advocate.

How to compare providers

Six questions expose most of the difference between quotes.

  1. What triggers the fee: cash in your bank, not "recovery" that counts promises and cheques.
  2. Flat or age-based: a flat rate misprices both ends of your book.
  3. When age is fixed: if it keeps rising, slow work earns more.
  4. Who holds the money: customers paying the provider creates risk.
  5. What you get when money does not come in: an evidenced reason per account.
  6. Retainers, minimum fees and exit terms.

What to do this week

Size the decision.

  1. Age your overdue book in the seven bands of Exhibit 1.
  2. Use the agreed written fee schedule to estimate fees on scenario receipts. Do not multiply a rolling historical benchmark into a recovery forecast; assess the evidence account by account.
  3. Calculate the cost of waiting: total overdue × your cost of capital.
  4. List your top 20 accounts with a one-line reason each is stuck.

When to bring someone in

When overdue grows faster than revenue, the cost of waiting already exceeds any fee on this page. So does an ageing where the same accounts carry the same comment every month.

What GGA would do

We don't touch the money your sales team sells. We collect the money nobody owns, and the fee is fixed before any work begins.

  1. Day 1: one invoice or one ageing report. Within one working day, a named specialist replies with what we would do first and what is missing.
  2. Week 1: Receivables Position Review, free: every invoice banded, every material account classified by the four reasons. You receive realizable cash by band, maximum fee exposure and the cost of waiting.
  3. Week 2: the fee in writing. You receive each invoice's age when work starts and its rate, plus any file-opening fee.
  4. Weeks 2–3: the engagement letter. You receive a signed engagement letter and an approved plan per account.
  5. Week 3: owners named. You receive the owner list and first review date.
  6. Month 1 onwards: fees from cash only, at the band frozen on day one. You receive a monthly statement linking each fee to its receipt and invoice.

Badly aged Project & EPC books recovered 70% in one year. Fees follow the approved written schedule; Exhibit 1 is a historical collection benchmark, not a rate card.

What we need from you

Four items produce a fee estimate; the rest lets work begin.

To start

To act

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 see every invoice's rate before work starts.

Send us one unpaid invoice. Email the debtor name, city, 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. For a whole book, ask for a complimentary Receivables Position Review.

A different situation? Foreign company owed money by an Indian business → India Desk · Indian exporter owed by an overseas buyer → Global Receivables Desk

Frequently asked questions

Set by age at the start, paid only from cash.

What if GGA does not recover anything?

No success commission is earned on an amount not recovered. Separately agreed fees or third-party costs may still apply. The account’s evidenced position supports your provisioning or legal decision.

Does the fee increase if recovery takes longer?

No. An invoice 80 days past due at the start keeps the commission basis agreed in its written fee schedule; the rate is not increased merely because recovery takes longer.

How is the fee agreed before work starts?

Through the written schedule after the complimentary review. You sign only once you accept it; no rate changes during the engagement.

Sources

Benchmark and legal statements are sourced.

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