Overview
Money given and not returned — personal loans to friends and relatives, business advances, security deposits, dues on handshake deals — is recoverable through the civil courts, and more often than people think: bank transfers, WhatsApp acknowledgements, and part-payments build the case that a missing signed document doesn't. Documented debts ride the Order 37 summary track where the borrower needs the court's permission even to defend; others proceed as ordinary suits with interest. The one unforgiving rule is limitation: generally three years from when the debt fell due or was last acknowledged — a written acknowledgement or part-payment resets the clock.
Key Provisions — Code of Civil Procedure + Limitation Act, 1908 / 1963
- Order 37 CPC — summary suits on written contracts, invoices and cheques: leave to defend required, decrees fast.
- Limitation: 3 years from the due date — every written acknowledgement or part-payment starts a fresh 3 years (Section 18/19, Limitation Act).
- Interest: contractual rate, or court-awarded interest under Section 34 CPC from due date through decree to payment.
- Decrees execute against salary, bank accounts, and property — and a repayment cheque that bounces adds Section 138 prosecution.
What You Can Get
How We Handle It
Evidence & Limitation Check
Transfers, chats, acknowledgements — the claim and its deadline mapped first.
Demand Notice
A formal notice that often produces payment — and evidence when it doesn't.
Suit
Summary or ordinary suit in the right court, with interest pleaded properly.
Decree & Execution
Judgment enforced until the money is actually in your hands.
Frequently Asked Questions
I lent money by bank transfer with nothing in writing — can I recover?
Yes. The transfer trail plus any message acknowledging the loan is a solid case; even silence in the face of a demand helps. 'Nothing in writing' almost never means 'no case'.
The loan is 4 years old — too late?
Maybe not: any acknowledgement or part-payment within the last 3 years restarted limitation. And a fresh written acknowledgement obtained now (even a WhatsApp reply) can revive it — worth engineering before you sue.
Legal Connect connects you with independent civil advocates; we are not a law firm and this page is general information, not legal advice. Limitation clocks run in most civil matters — call +91 22 6555 3444 early.