Government Services · India · MSME Delayed Payments

MSME Delayed Payment: How to File on Samadhaan (2026)

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

If a buyer has not paid your micro or small enterprise for goods or services supplied, the MSME Samadhaan portal is the official and free way to recover the money with interest. It is built on the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act 2006, which says a buyer must pay within the agreed period and in any case within 45 days of accepting the goods or services, and that a buyer who delays owes compound interest at three times the bank rate notified by the RBI. A complaint filed on Samadhaan goes to the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council, which conciliates and, if that fails, arbitrates and passes an award. This page walks through the full flow: who can file, the 45 day rule and the interest, what to keep ready, the exact steps on the Samadhaan portal, what the Facilitation Council does, the timeline, and the one point that trips up winners, what happens when the buyer challenges the award in the commercial court. Last verified October 2026.

01Who can file and the 45 day rule

To use Samadhaan you must be a micro or small enterprise that was registered at the time of the supply. Medium enterprises and traders do not get the same delayed payment protection, so your category at the time of the contract matters.

The core rule under the MSMED Act 2006 is simple:

• The buyer must pay on or before the date agreed in writing.
• If no date is agreed, payment is due within 15 days of accepting the goods or services.
• In no case can the agreed date be more than 45 days from acceptance.
• If the buyer pays late, it owes compound interest, with monthly rests, at three times the bank rate notified by the RBI, and this interest cannot be deducted as an expense for income tax.

This interest is a statutory right, so you can claim it even if your invoice did not mention interest.

02What to keep ready

You file online, so keep clear scans ready:

Add up the principal and work out the interest from the due date so your claim is clear. Keep the buyer GST or company details handy, because the portal asks for them.

03Step by step on Samadhaan

The whole claim is filed online and is free.

• 1. Open the portal. Go to samadhaan.msme.gov.in and choose to file a new case.
• 2. Verify your Udyam. Enter your Udyam Registration Number and the Aadhaar OTP to confirm you are a micro or small enterprise.
• 3. Enter the buyer and the claim. Add the buyer details, the unpaid invoices, the principal and the interest you claim.
• 4. Upload documents. Attach the work order, invoices and proof of delivery or acceptance.
• 5. Submit. The case is lodged and routed to the Facilitation Council for the state where you are registered.

There is no portal fee to file. You can track the status of your case on the same portal.

04What the Facilitation Council does

The Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council handles the case in two stages under the MSMED Act 2006:

• Conciliation first. The Council calls both sides and tries to settle. Many cases close here with the buyer agreeing to pay.
• Arbitration if conciliation fails. The Council then acts as an arbitrator (or refers the matter to an arbitration centre) and passes a binding award for the principal and the statutory interest.

The award is enforceable like a court decree. The Act also says the Council should try to finish within 90 days, though in practice it can take longer depending on the state Council load.

05Timeline and the interest you can claim

The interest is often the biggest part of the recovery. Because it is compound interest at three times the RBI bank rate, with monthly rests, a payment delayed by a year or two can add a large amount on top of the principal. Work it out from the due date, not the invoice date, and let the Council apply the statutory rate.

Track your case on the Samadhaan portal. If the Council is slow, you can follow up with the state Council office, and your Udyam status lets you file repeat claims against other defaulting buyers.

06Common mistakes

The usual reasons a claim weakens or stalls:

• Not being registered as a micro or small enterprise at the time of the supply.
• No proof of acceptance or delivery, so the 45 day clock cannot be fixed.
• Claiming only the principal and forgetting the statutory interest you are owed.
• A genuine quality or short supply dispute by the buyer, which the Council will weigh.

Clean paperwork, a clear due date and a correct interest calculation are what make a Samadhaan claim move.

07When the award is challenged: the commercial court

Winning the award is not always the end. A buyer who wants to set aside a Facilitation Council award can file a challenge under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996, but the MSMED Act adds a strong condition: the buyer must first deposit 75 percent of the awarded amount. The challenge is heard by the court that deals with commercial disputes, which for a claim above the specified value is the commercial court. If the challenge fails or is not filed in time, you move to enforce the award as a decree. So the path can run from Samadhaan, to the Facilitation Council award, to a commercial court challenge, to execution.

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

If your award is challenged or you go to enforce it, you can create a FREE Claw account and track that matter across the forum that hears it. Claw covers 9,102 courts, benches and forums in India, so whether it sits before the Facilitation Council, the commercial court or the High Court on appeal, there is a real tracking home for the orders and next dates. Judgment search spans 30 crore+ judgments, with Supreme Court decisions from 1950 and High Court decisions from 1990, and results return in under 5 seconds, which helps you or your lawyer see how similar Section 34 challenges and the 75 percent pre-deposit point were decided. Claw does not train its AI models on your documents. This is general information and not legal advice, and a contested award needs a lawyer for the arguments.

To understand the forum, read what a commercial court is and when to use it. To register first, see how to register on Udyam. You can also run a case search across Indian courts by party name.

08Sources and further reading

• MSME Samadhaan portal: samadhaan.msme.gov.in
• Udyam Registration: udyamregistration.gov.in
• eCourts (case status): ecourts.gov.in
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This page is general information for readers in India, not legal advice. Rates and rules change, so confirm the current details on the official Samadhaan portal before you file.

09Frequently asked questions