GeM Seller Payment Delayed? RTI, CPGRAMS and MSME Samadhaan Step-by-Step Guide

Who this guide is for

This guide is for any seller — sole proprietor, partnership, private limited company, or MSME — who has fulfilled a GeM order and has not received payment within the expected window. It is particularly valuable if you are a Micro or Small Enterprise (MSE) with Udyam Registration, because the MSMED Act 2006 gives you an additional legal route that other sellers do not have.

The guide covers orders placed by Central Government ministries and departments, public sector undertakings (PSUs), autonomous bodies, and state government departments that buy on GeM. The escalation paths vary slightly depending on whether the buyer is a central or state body, and this is flagged at each step.

You do not need to be a legal expert. You need your order number, delivery documents, and about three hours across a weekend.

What you can do this weekend

Friday evening

Log in to your GeM seller dashboard and open the delayed order. Check whether the CRAC has been generated. The order detail page shows CRAC status clearly. If CRAC is pending, write down the consignee name and contact details visible on the order. Draft a short email to the consignee and the buyer's finance officer quoting the order number, invoice number, delivery date, and amount outstanding. Keep the tone polite but firm — you are creating a written record.

While you are at the dashboard, download the Purchase Order (PO), your invoice, and delivery acknowledgement. Save everything in a single folder. If CRAC has already been generated but payment has not come, note the CRAC generation date — that is your clock start for the payment timeline.

Saturday

If you have not received a satisfactory reply or CRAC by Saturday morning, raise a GeM incident. Log in to your seller dashboard, find the "Need Help" section, select "Report an Incident", and click "New". Select the relevant order, choose the category that best fits your problem (payment delay or CRAC pending), describe the issue in plain terms, and attach your delivery proof and invoice. You will receive an incident reference number immediately. Keep it safe.

On the same day, register on CPGRAMS at pgportal.gov.in if you are not already registered. Identify the buyer's ministry or department name from the GeM order page. Lodge a CPGRAMS grievance addressed to that ministry, quoting the GeM order number, invoice amount, delivery date, and CRAC status.

If you hold Udyam Registration and the buyer is either a government department or a company, this is also a good time to gather your Udyam Certificate. You will need it for the MSME ODR portal.

Sunday

Draft your RTI application addressed to the CPIO of the buyer's department (see the copy-paste template below). Visit rtionline.gov.in and file it online. The RTI fee for Central Government departments is ₹10, payable online. For state departments, the fee and portal vary by state — check your state government's RTI portal or send the application by post with a postal order.

If you are an MSE with Udyam Registration and payment is overdue beyond the period allowed under the MSMED Act, visit odr.msme.gov.in and begin the process of filing a delayed payment case. As of October 2025, all new delayed payment cases must be filed on this ODR portal — the older Samadhaan portal no longer accepts new filings but still tracks legacy cases.

By Sunday evening you have: a GeM incident open, a CPGRAMS complaint lodged, an RTI application filed, and — if you are an MSE — a formal delayed payment case started. That is a strong, multi-channel pressure trail that most buyer departments cannot ignore.

Documents and evidence checklist

Step-by-step action plan

Step 1: Understand CRAC — the gateway to payment

Before anything else, you need to understand what CRAC is and where yours stands. CRAC (Consignee Receipt and Acceptance Certificate) is a digital document generated by the buyer's authorised consignee on the GeM portal. It is the formal confirmation that your goods or services have been received and meet the specifications in the Purchase Order. Payment cannot begin until CRAC is generated. Think of it as the trigger that releases the payment process.

Under GeM guidelines, the consignee is expected to generate CRAC within 10 calendar days of delivery. If 10 days have passed and CRAC is still "Pending", the delay is sitting with the buyer's consignee — not with a finance team. Your first action must be to contact the consignee by email, quoting the order number, delivery date, and CRAC deadline. Copy the buyer's purchase officer if their details appear on the PO.

If CRAC has been generated but payment has not arrived, the delay is downstream — in the department's payment-processing chain (PFMS or department treasury). In that case, skip the CRAC follow-up and move directly to the GeM incident and CPGRAMS steps below.

Step 2: Raise a GeM incident

The GeM portal has a built-in grievance system called the Incident Management System. Any registered seller can raise an incident directly against a buyer. Here is how:

1. Log in to your GeM seller account at gem.gov.in.
2. In your dashboard, locate the Need Help section or the help icon.
3. Select Report an Incident, then click New.
4. Choose the relevant order from your list and select the appropriate incident type (payment delay, CRAC not generated, etc.).
5. Write a clear description: "Goods were delivered on [date]. CRAC has not been generated / payment has not been released despite CRAC on [date]. Amount outstanding: ₹[amount]. Invoice number: [number]."
6. Attach copies of your invoice and delivery proof.
7. Submit. You will receive an incident reference number.

After 7 calendar days without satisfactory resolution, you can escalate the incident to the next level within the GeM system. You can also contact the GeM Helpdesk at the toll-free numbers 1800-419-3436 / 1800-102-3436 (9 am to 10 pm, Monday to Saturday) or email helpdesk-gem[at]gov[dot]in.

Step 3: File a CPGRAMS grievance

CPGRAMS (Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System) is India's national online grievance system for Central Government ministries and departments. It is separate from the GeM portal and runs at pgportal.gov.in. Filing here puts your complaint on record with senior officers in the buyer's ministry.

To file: register on pgportal.gov.in (free), log in, select Lodge Grievance, and choose the ministry or department that placed the GeM order. In the description, state the GeM order number, invoice amount, delivery date, CRAC status, and the steps you have already taken (email, GeM incident number). CPGRAMS complaints are acknowledged and tracked — they rarely go unanswered for long at the ministry level.

If you are unsatisfied with the response, CPGRAMS provides an appeal facility within 30 days. For more guidance, see our guide on how to file a CPGRAMS grievance.

If the buyer is a state government department, CPGRAMS covers some state departments but not all. Check whether the state appears on the portal's ministry/department list. If not, check the state government's own public grievance portal or submit a written representation to the state department head.

Step 4: File an RTI application with the buyer department

This is one of the most powerful steps you can take, and it is often underused by GeM sellers. The buyer department is a public authority under the RTI Act 2005. You have the legal right to ask for specific information about what has happened to your payment. A well-drafted RTI application asking for the payment status, the officer responsible, and the reason for delay creates an internal audit trail inside the department and often accelerates payment.

File the RTI on rtionline.gov.in for Central Government departments. Select the correct ministry and department. The RTI fee is ₹10 for Central Government. The department's CPIO must respond within 30 days. See the copy-paste RTI draft template below.

For more on what to do if your RTI goes unanswered, read our guide on filing a first RTI appeal under Section 19. You can also get contextual help from using CPGRAMS and RTI together.

Step 5: File on the MSME ODR portal (MSEs only)

If you are a Micro or Small Enterprise with a valid Udyam Registration Certificate, you have a dedicated legal route under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act 2006. This law requires buyers — including government departments — to pay MSEs within the agreed period, which cannot exceed 45 days from the date of acceptance of goods or services. If there is no written agreement, payment is due within 15 days of acceptance.

When that deadline passes, the buyer becomes liable to pay compound interest at three times the RBI bank rate for every day of delay. This is a statutory right — you do not need to negotiate it.

From October 2025, all new delayed payment cases by MSEs must be filed at odr.msme.gov.in — the MSME Online Dispute Resolution portal. The older Samadhaan portal no longer accepts new applications but still shows status for older cases. The ODR portal is free to use and fully digital. Your case will be handled by the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council (MSEFC) in your state.

This route runs parallel to your RTI and CPGRAMS steps — you do not need to choose one over another. Running all channels simultaneously is the right strategy. For a detailed guide on MSME delayed payment complaints, see our sibling guide on MSME delayed payment, Samadhaan and interest recovery.

Escalation ladder

Copy-paste complaint template

Replace the text in square brackets with your own details before sending. This template is for an RTI application to the buyer department. Adapt it for a CPGRAMS grievance by removing the RTI-specific sections.

When RTI can help

RTI is a strong tool in this situation because every government department that buys on GeM is a public authority under the RTI Act 2005. That includes Central Government ministries, departments, attached and subordinate offices, PSUs, autonomous institutions, and state government departments.

RTI can help you find out:

• Whether CRAC was generated and on which date.
• Which officer is currently holding your payment file and why it has not been cleared.
• Whether a budget or financial sanction issue is blocking release.
• Internal noting on your file — within the limits of RTI exemptions.
• The name and contact of the Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO) responsible for your payment.

Even if the CPIO gives you a vague or partial answer, the RTI creates an internal paper trail inside the department. Finance officers and DDOs who know an RTI has been filed tend to resolve the payment faster. The RTI does not by itself order payment — but it creates accountability that CPGRAMS and incidents alone often cannot.

You can file RTI for any amount. There is no minimum. If your order is small — even a few thousand rupees — RTI is still the right tool. Use our step-by-step RTI filing guide and the RTI Playbook for the full process.

When RTI will not help

RTI applies only to public authorities. If your GeM buyer is a private sector company that was permitted to procure through GeM (some public-private platforms allow this), RTI does not apply to that private entity. In that case, your routes are civil recovery — MSME Samadhaan ODR (if the amount and your registration qualify), and the civil courts.

RTI also cannot force payment directly. It is an information-seeking tool. Use it alongside CPGRAMS and the MSME ODR portal — not as a substitute. If the department gives you a satisfactory answer via RTI but still does not pay, escalate through CPGRAMS and the ODR portal simultaneously.

If your RTI goes unanswered within 30 days, file a first appeal under Section 19 of the RTI Act. If the First Appellate Authority also does not respond, you can approach the Central Information Commission (for central departments) or the State Information Commission (for state departments).

Common mistakes to avoid

• Waiting too long for CRAC without following up in writing. Verbal follow-ups leave no trace. Every reminder must be by email or written communication. If you only called the consignee, that conversation effectively did not happen from a documentation standpoint.
• Filing RTI with GeM instead of the buyer department. GeM is the platform; the buyer is the payer. RTI filed with GeM's CPIO will get information about GeM's processes — not about why your specific buyer department has not cleared your bill. File with the buyer department's CPIO.
• Filing on Samadhaan instead of the MSME ODR portal. From October 2025, the Samadhaan portal no longer accepts new delayed payment applications. All new cases must go to odr.msme.gov.in. Filing on the old portal will result in no action.
• Not having Udyam Registration when supplying to government. If your Udyam Registration was done after the invoice date, you cannot use the MSMED Act route for that invoice. Get registered before you take government orders so you are always protected.
• Raising a CPGRAMS complaint without specifying the order and amount. Vague complaints like "payment is pending" are easy to close with a boilerplate reply. Always quote the GeM order number, invoice number, amount, and delivery date in the subject line and first line of your complaint.
• Assuming one channel is enough. Running the GeM incident, CPGRAMS, RTI, and MSME ODR simultaneously is not overkill — it is the correct approach. Each channel reaches a different desk inside the buyer's organisation, and collectively they create pressure that no single channel can.
• Missing the MSMED Act deadline for interest. Interest on delayed payments accrues from the appointed day (the day after the payment was due). However, if you settle the principal quickly without claiming interest, you lose it. Note the appointed day and calculate how much interest has accrued — include it in your ODR application.
• Confusing the GeM incident system with a court process. A GeM incident is an internal platform complaint. It does not give you a legally enforceable order. It is Step 2 in a ladder that includes MSME ODR (which does carry legal weight) and RTI. Use all steps.