Getting paid on GeM — delivery, CRAC and payment, questions answered

Updated 2026-10-24 · All guides

Winning on GeM is the straightforward part. What follows — delivery, two receipt certificates with similar names, and a payment clock that only starts when the second one exists — is where sellers lose money and patience. These are the specific questions.

For the bid itself, see how to bid on GeM.

The two certificates

What is a PRC?

The Provisional Receipt Certificate. It records that the goods physically arrived at the consignee. It is not acceptance, and it does not make payment due — it starts the clock for the consignee to inspect and accept.

What is a CRAC, and why does it matter more?

The Consignee Receipt and Acceptance Certificate. It records that the consignee has accepted what you delivered. This is the document that matters, because under GeM's General Terms and Conditions payment becomes due on generation of the CRAC.

No CRAC, no payment due. Chasing an invoice before the CRAC exists is chasing the wrong thing.

Who generates the CRAC, and how long do they have?

The consignee, and GeM's framework gives them a window after the PRC — commonly described as ten days — to inspect and either accept or raise an issue. The practical consequence for you is that delivery does not end your involvement: if the consignee sits on it, the payment clock has not started.

What happens if the consignee simply does nothing?

For smaller direct-purchase orders GeM has a deemed-acceptance mechanism: where the buyer takes no action and no incident has been raised, the order is treated as accepted and the CRAC is issued automatically. For direct purchases up to ₹25,000 this has been described as the twenty-first day after the PRC is updated.

Do not plan your cash flow around it. It applies to a narrow band of orders, it is excluded where an incident has been raised, and it is a backstop rather than a normal route.

The payment clock

How long should payment take after CRAC?

Under the GTC, within ten days of the CRAC being generated. Several state finance departments repeat the same figure in their own GeM instructions, and in states like Odisha and West Bengal the ten days are broken down further — the drawing officer submits the bill to the treasury within about two days, and the treasury pays within about two more.

So what is the realistic total, from delivery to money?

Add them up honestly: delivery, then the consignee's inspection window, then ten days from CRAC. A smooth order is a few weeks. An order where the consignee is slow to accept has no upper bound you can rely on, because the ten days never start.

Price that in. A margin that only works if you are paid in two weeks is a margin that does not work.

Is there a penalty on the buyer for paying late?

Government circulars have provided for interest on delayed payment beyond the prescribed window — press reporting of Finance Ministry instructions has described one per cent per month. Treat the figure as needing confirmation for your order and your buyer rather than as something to put in an invoice.

Separately, and more usefully: if you are a registered micro or small enterprise, the MSMED Act gives you a statutory route that does not depend on GeM at all — payment within the agreed date which cannot exceed 45 days, compound interest at three times the RBI bank rate beyond it, and a reference to the Facilitation Council through MSME Samadhaan. That is covered in MSME benefits, and it is the single strongest reason to be registered before you need it.

The buyer says the payment is stuck in the treasury. Is that my problem?

Practically, yes, in that you are the one without the money. The useful response is to establish which step it is actually at — CRAC generated or not, bill submitted to treasury or not — because the remedy is different for each, and "it is in process" is not a step. Keep the CRAC date, because every timeline runs from it.

Delivery and what goes wrong

What counts as late delivery?

Missing the delivery period in the contract. GeM bid documents commonly state that the delivery period is the essence of the contract, which means late delivery is a breach rather than a variation.

How are late-delivery damages calculated?

By the formula in your own bid document. The pattern that appears across most GeM bids is 0.5 per cent of the value per week or part week of delay, capped at 10 per cent of the contract value — but the rate and the cap are set per bid, and some buyers apply the damages separately to each delayed element, such as supply and installation.

Two things worth knowing beyond the arithmetic: buyers often state that the deduction is without prejudice to their other remedies, and that reaching the cap may let them terminate. Some also treat the damages as attracting GST and deduct accordingly.

Can I get the delivery period extended?

Ask in writing, before the date passes, stating what caused the delay and how long you need. The principle is the same as on a works contract: an extension sought while the problem is live is a different conversation from an explanation offered after the deadline has gone. See extension of time and liquidated damages for how that argument works and what records decide it.

What if the consignee rejects the delivery?

Find out whether the objection is to the goods or to the paperwork, because they are very different problems. A parameter mismatch against your listing is the hardest kind to argue, which is why the values on your catalogue listing matter so much at bid stage.

Practical housekeeping

• Keep the CRAC date for every order. Every timeline, and any later claim, runs from it.
• Put your Udyam number on every invoice if you are registered. The MSMED protection is easier to invoke when the buyer cannot say it did not know.
• Log delivery evidence — dispatch documents, delivery acknowledgement, photographs where relevant. A disputed delivery two months later is decided on what you kept.
• Do not treat an order as closed at delivery. It closes at CRAC, and then at payment.

The short version

Delivery produces a PRC, acceptance produces a CRAC, and only the CRAC starts the ten-day payment clock. Most GeM payment problems are a CRAC that was never generated, so that is the first thing to establish and the date to keep. Late delivery is usually 0.5 per cent a week capped at 10 per cent, but read your own bid. And if you are a registered micro or small enterprise, the MSMED Act gives you leverage that works whether or not GeM's own timelines are honoured.