India's Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code contains a complete debt-wipe procedure for the poorest borrowers. It has been printed in the statute book since 2016, and the one notification that brought Part III to life expressly left it out. No notification bringing it into force could be traced on 30 August 2026, so anyone telling you to apply for a fresh start order today should be asked to produce one.
This page does two things. It shows you the proof, from the Code's own commencement footnote, and it sets out exactly what the process would give you if it were ever notified, so that you know what is being withheld.
Section 1(3) of the Code says it shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint, and the proviso allows different dates for different provisions. The footnote to section 1(3) in the India Code text then lists every commencement notification issued.
The entry that matters is the one for 1 December 2019. It brought into force, by notification No. S.O. 4126(E) dated 15 November 2019, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, section 3(ii):
and all of it only in so far as they relate to personal guarantors to corporate debtors.
Two things follow, and both are visible on the face of that entry.
The words except with regard to fresh start process are an express carve-out. Section 78, which is the provision applying Part III, was notified for everything except the fresh start process.
And the notified range jumps from section 79 straight to section 94. Sections 80 to 93, the entire Fresh Start Process chapter, are not in that list, and appear in no other entry in that footnote.
What this means in practice. The personal insolvency provisions that are live in India are sections 94 to 187, and only as they relate to personal guarantors to corporate debtors. That is a different track with different eligibility. The debtor-initiated fresh start relief in sections 80 to 93 is not in that notification.
How current is this, and how to be sure. The consolidated India Code text this page is read from is marked Last Update 01-6-2020, and its commencement footnote ends with the 1 December 2019 entry. So it proves the position as at that date beyond argument, and no later notification bringing sections 80 to 93 into force could be traced on India Code as at 30 August 2026. It cannot by itself rule one out. The RTI at the end of this page is written to settle the question in writing, and question 1 is the one that does it.
It is worth knowing what is sitting unused, because the eligibility limits explain who was meant to benefit.
Section 80(1) entitles a debtor who is unable to pay his debt, and who meets the section 80(2) conditions, to apply for a fresh start for discharge of his qualifying debt. Under section 80(2) the application may be made either personally or through a resolution professional, to the Adjudicating Authority, if all seven of the following hold:
| Condition | Section 80(2) limit |
|---|---|
| Gross annual income of the debtor | Does not exceed ₹60,000 |
| Aggregate value of the debtor's assets | Does not exceed ₹20,000 |
| Aggregate value of the qualifying debts | Does not exceed ₹35,000 |
| Bankruptcy status | He is not an undischarged bankrupt |
| Housing | He does not own a dwelling unit, whether encumbered or not |
| Other proceedings | No fresh start, insolvency resolution or bankruptcy process is subsisting against him |
| Recent relief | No previous fresh start order in the preceding twelve months |
Those are 2016 figures and they have not been revised, which is part of why the chapter has aged without being used.
Section 85(3) is the other side of the bargain, and it is strict. During the moratorium the debtor shall not act as a director of any company or take part directly or indirectly in the promotion, formation or management of a company; shall not dispose of or alienate any of his assets; shall inform his business partners that he is undergoing a fresh start process; shall give prior information before entering into a financial or commercial transaction of the specified kind; and shall not travel outside India except with the permission of the Adjudicating Authority.
Section 92 is the payoff, and it is wider than a bare write-off of principal.
Section 92(1) requires the resolution professional to prepare a final list of qualifying debts and submit it to the Adjudicating Authority at least seven days before the moratorium period ends. Section 92(2) then requires the Adjudicating Authority to pass a discharge order at the end of the moratorium period, discharging the debtor from the qualifying debts in that list.
Section 92(3) adds three further discharges, each running from the date of the application to the date of the discharge order:
Its limits are equally clear. Section 92(4) says the order does not discharge the debtor from any debt not in the section 92(2) list or any liability not in section 92(3). Section 92(6) says it does not discharge any other person from liability in respect of the qualifying debts, so a guarantor is not released. Section 92(5) requires the order to be forwarded to the Board for an entry in the register referred to in section 196.
Section 83(6) is the gate on the way in. The resolution professional shall reject the application if in his opinion the debtor does not satisfy section 80, or the debts disclosed are not qualifying debts, or the debtor has deliberately made a false representation or omission. Section 83(7) requires him to record his reasons in his report to the Adjudicating Authority and to give the debtor a copy.
Do not confuse this with the live track. The provisions actually in force from 1 December 2019, sections 94 to 187, deal with insolvency resolution and bankruptcy for individuals, notified in so far as they relate to personal guarantors to corporate debtors. They carry none of the section 80(2) income, asset and debt caps, and they are creditor-usable. That is a different remedy for a different person.
This is a clean RTI subject. There is a Ministry, there is a Board, and there is a decision that has not been taken for a decade.
To, The Public Information Officer, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Shastri Bhawan, Dr Rajendra Prasad Road, New Delhi 110001. Subject: Information under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005 regarding commencement of the fresh start process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. Sir/Madam, Under Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, please provide: 1. A copy of every notification issued under Section 1(3) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 bringing Sections 80 to 93 of the Code into force. If no such notification has been issued, please state so in writing. 2. The current status of the file relating to the commencement of the fresh start process under Part III Chapter II of the Code, with the date of the last noting. 3. Copies of any note, report or recommendation on record regarding the revision of the monetary thresholds in Section 80(2) of the Code. 4. Copies of any communication between the Ministry and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India regarding the commencement of the fresh start process, in the last five years. 5. Whether any draft rules or regulations for the fresh start process have been prepared, and if so, a copy. 6. The number of applications received under Sections 94 to 187 since 1 December 2019, to show the scale of the personal insolvency track that was notified. I enclose the prescribed application fee of ₹10. If any part of this information is held by another public authority, please transfer that part under Section 6(3) within five days. Please supply the information within the period fixed by Section 7(1). Yours faithfully, [Name] [Full postal address] [Date]
Question 2 is the one that produces a real answer, because a file noting has a date on it. Build the application with the AI RTI Drafter, set the reply deadline with the Timeline Tracker, and if the Ministry answers around the question, test the reply with the PIO Reply Checker.
On the material that can be verified, no. The commencement footnote to section 1(3) of the Code shows that the 1 December 2019 notification, S.O. 4126(E) dated 15 November 2019, brought section 78 into force except with regard to the fresh start process, together with section 79 and sections 94 to 187, and only in so far as they relate to personal guarantors to corporate debtors. Sections 80 to 93 appear in no commencement entry in that footnote, which runs to 1 June 2020, and no later notification for them could be traced on 30 August 2026. Ask the Ministry to confirm in writing before you act.
Under section 80(2), a debtor with gross annual income not exceeding ₹60,000, assets not exceeding ₹20,000 and qualifying debts not exceeding ₹35,000, who is not an undischarged bankrupt, owns no dwelling unit, has no subsisting insolvency or bankruptcy process, and has had no fresh start order in the preceding twelve months.
Section 85(4) fixes the moratorium at one hundred and eighty days beginning with the date of admission, unless the admission order is revoked under section 91(2). Section 92(2) requires the discharge order at the end of that period, with the final list of qualifying debts submitted at least seven days before it ends.
Under section 92(3), yes, for the period from the date of the application to the date of the discharge order, covering penalties, interest including penal interest, and any other sums owed under any contract in respect of the qualifying debts.
Sections 94 to 187 of the Code, notified with effect from 1 December 2019, in so far as they relate to personal guarantors to corporate debtors. That is a distinct track and does not carry the section 80(2) caps.
No. Section 92(6) states that a discharge order under section 92(2) shall not discharge any other person from any liability in respect of the qualifying debts.
The person the chapter was drafted for. An illustration only.
A daily-wage worker owes about ₹30,000 across two informal loans, earns roughly ₹55,000 a year, owns no house and has almost no assets.
On paper he is exactly the person section 80(2) was drafted for. Every one of the seven conditions is met: income under ₹60,000, assets under ₹20,000, qualifying debts under ₹35,000, not an undischarged bankrupt, no dwelling unit, no subsisting process, no fresh start order in the last twelve months.
If sections 80 to 93 were in force, filing would trigger an interim moratorium the same day under section 81(1), a 180-day moratorium on admission under section 85(4), and a discharge order at the end of it under section 92(2), sweeping in the accrued penalties and interest under section 92(3).
None of that appears to be available. The 1 December 2019 notification expressly excluded the fresh start process from section 78 and did not notify sections 80 to 93, and no later commencement notification for those sections could be traced.
His real options lie elsewhere: a State law where one applies, such as the relief for coercive recovery by unregistered lenders described in our page on the Karnataka Micro Loan Act 2025, the RBI framework where the lender is regulated, and Lok Adalat settlement of a pending recovery case.
Reviewed by Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak. Last verified against the India Code text of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 on 30 August 2026.