Price of goods sold — no credit period agreed:
how long do you have?
Last reviewed: 2026-08-19 · quoted from the India Code bare-Act PDF
The date of the delivery of the goods.
The Schedule row, as the Act prints it
Article 14Description: For the price of goods sold and delivered where no fixed period of credit is agreed upon.
Period: Three years.
Time from which period begins to run: The date of the delivery of the goods.
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In plain English
An unpaid seller with no agreed credit period must sue within three years of delivery — not from the invoice date, the last reminder, or the buyer's promise to pay. A signed acknowledgment (s.18) or a part-payment recorded in writing (s.19) before expiry restarts the clock.
Where this comes up
- Wholesaler's unpaid invoices for goods supplied to a retailer
- Manufacturer supplying components against purchase orders with no credit terms
- Old outstanding 'khata' balances for goods delivered
What can reset or extend this period
General rules for entries in the Suits division. The full statutory quotes (ss.5, 12, 18-19, 6-8) are on the finder page.
No condonation — ever
Section 5 applies only to appeals and applications, never to suits. A time-barred suit must be dismissed under s.3 'although limitation has not been set up as a defence'. There is no discretionary mercy for suits.
Acknowledgment and part-payment reset the clock
A written acknowledgment of liability signed by the party (s.18), or a part-payment acknowledged in the payer's handwriting or signed writing (s.19), gives a fresh period — but only if made BEFORE the current period expires. An acknowledgment of an already-barred debt creates no fresh period under this Act.
Computation exclusions
s.12(1) excludes the first day; s.4 lets you file on the reopening day if the period expires while the court is closed; s.14 excludes time spent prosecuting in good faith in a court without jurisdiction; s.15 excludes stay/injunction periods and statutory-notice time; s.17 postpones the start until discovery in cases of fraud, concealment or mistake. But s.9: once time begins to run, no subsequent disability stops it.
Legal disability
If the person entitled to sue is a minor or of unsound mind when the period would start, ss.6-7 let them sue within the same period after the disability ceases — capped by s.8 at three years from cessation, and denied entirely to pre-emption suits (Article 97).
Frequently asked
Does the clock run from the invoice date or the delivery date?
From the date of delivery of the goods — that is the Schedule's third column. If a fixed credit period was agreed, Article 15 applies instead and time runs from when the credit period expires.
The buyer keeps promising to pay on the phone. Does that extend limitation?
No. Only a written, signed acknowledgment of liability made before the period expires (s.18) or a part-payment acknowledged in the payer's writing (s.19) gives a fresh three-year period.
Can the court condone delay if I file the suit late?
No. Section 5 condonation applies only to appeals and applications, never to suits. A time-barred money suit must be dismissed under s.3 even if the defendant does not plead limitation.
This is a reference to the statutory text, not advice on a live matter. Limitation is brutally fact-sensitive — when the cause of action accrued, whether an acknowledgment or part-payment reset the clock, and which exclusions under ss.4-15 apply all turn on your specific facts. This page is a reference to the statutory text, not advice on a live matter, and it does not create an advocate-client relationship. A single day's error can be fatal to a claim: s.5 condonation never applies to suits, and several special-statute deadlines (Arbitration s.34(3), IBC s.61(2)) are hard ceilings no court can extend. Verify every period against the bare Act as currently amended and against current case law, and take advice on your own facts before acting. Provisions here were reviewed on 19 August 2026.