How-to · Insolvency · IBC
How to Submit a Claim as an Operational Creditor (2026)
If a company that owes you money for goods or services is admitted into insolvency, your unpaid bill does not just disappear, but you have to put in a claim to be counted. You do that as an operational creditor, by filing a proof of claim with the person running the process. Miss it, or file it badly, and your debt may be left out of the resolution plan or the payout. This guide, for suppliers, vendors and their finance teams, sets out who is an operational creditor, the exact form to use, the proof you need, the deadline, and what happens after you file. It is general information, not legal advice. Last verified October 2026.
- Form: an operational creditor files its proof of claim in Form B under Regulation 7 of the IBBI (CIRP) Regulations, 2016.
- Where: with the interim resolution professional named in the Form A public announcement, not with the NCLT.
- Deadline: the last date stated in the public announcement, usually about 14 days from the start of the process.
- Amount: the unpaid operational debt computed as on the insolvency commencement date, with proof attached.
- After filing: the resolution professional verifies and admits the claim, which is then dealt with in the resolution plan or the Section 53 waterfall.
01The short answer
When a company enters a corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, an interim resolution professional (IRP) is appointed and issues a public announcement in Form A. That announcement names the IRP and sets the last date for claims. An operational creditor files its proof of claim in Form B under Regulation 7 of the IBBI (Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons) Regulations, 2016, with documents proving the debt, computed as on the insolvency commencement date.
Filing is simple in form but exact in substance. The IRP verifies the claim against your documents, so the quality of your proof decides how much of your claim is admitted. File on time, in the right form, with clean proof.
02Are you an operational creditor
An operational creditor is someone owed money for the operations of the business. In broad terms that means:
- Suppliers of goods or services who are owed for what they supplied.
- Workmen and employees owed wages or dues (they use a separate form).
- Government owed statutory dues such as tax.
This is different from a financial creditor, who is owed a borrowing or financial debt, such as a bank or a lender. The distinction matters because the two file on different forms and are treated differently in the process. A financial creditor files in Form C, and workmen or employees file in Form D. Only financial creditors sit and vote on the committee of creditors, so an ordinary trade supplier usually has a claim but no vote.
03When and where to file
Watch for the public announcement. It appears in newspapers and on the websites of the company and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), and it carries the IRP contact details and the last date for submitting claims, usually fourteen days from the start of the process.
You file your claim with the IRP (who may later continue as the resolution professional), not with the National Company Law Tribunal. Claims can be sent in person, by post or electronically, at the address and email in the announcement.
A late claim is not automatically dead, but it is at risk. Resolution professionals and tribunals have accepted some delayed claims, yet there is no guaranteed right to file late. Treat the stated last date as a hard deadline.
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04The Form B claim, step by step
Form B is a standard format in the IBBI rules. Fill it carefully:
| Field | What to put |
|---|---|
| Creditor details | Your name, address and contact, and your authorised signatory |
| Total claim amount | The unpaid operational debt, with interest up to the insolvency commencement date |
| How the debt arose | The transaction, purchase orders, contract and invoices behind the debt |
| Documents relied on | A list of the proof you attach (see below) |
| Disputes or litigation | Any pending dispute, suit or case about the debt |
| Security and set-off | Any security held, retention of title, or mutual dealings |
| Bank account | Where any payment under a resolution plan should go |
The claim amount must be worked out as on the insolvency commencement date, which is the date the tribunal admitted the company into CIRP. Interest after that date is generally not counted unless your contract clearly provides for it. State your numbers precisely, because a rounded or unsupported figure invites a cut.
05Proof you must attach
A claim is only as strong as its proof. For an operational debt, attach the documents that show the debt exists and is unpaid:
- Invoices and the contract or purchase orders that created the debt.
- Proof of supply or delivery, such as delivery challans, e-way bills, or acceptance records.
- A statement of account showing the running balance and what is unpaid.
- Any demand notice you sent, and the company's reply, if any.
- GST returns or records that corroborate the supply, where relevant.
If you file electronically, keep a signed and, where asked, notarised affidavit with the hard copies ready. The resolution professional has to verify each claim, and a claim with clean, matched documents is admitted quickly, while a thin one is reduced or kept pending.
06What happens after you file
Once you file, the resolution professional verifies your claim against your documents and the company's records, and then admits it in full, admits it in part, or keeps it under verification. The verified claims go into the list of creditors, which is updated and made available.
From there, your operational debt is dealt with in the resolution plan that the committee of creditors approves, which must provide for operational creditors at least the minimum the law requires, or, if the company goes to liquidation, in the Section 53 waterfall. You can see the full approval route in how a resolution plan is approved under the IBC, and the payout order in the liquidation waterfall under Section 53.
Filing records your claim. Verification decides how much of it counts. The gap between the two is almost always about the quality of your proof.
07Common mistakes
The avoidable errors are familiar:
- Missing the announcement and the last date, because nobody was watching for it.
- Claiming post-admission interest that the contract does not support, which gets cut.
- Thin proof, such as invoices with no delivery evidence, so the claim is reduced.
- Using the wrong form, for example a financial creditor form for an operational debt.
- Silence on disputes, when an undisclosed pending dispute later undermines the claim.
None of these is hard to avoid. The point is simply to find out early that the company is in insolvency, which is where monitoring earns its place.
08Where Claw fits
Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.
Filing a Form B claim is something you or your counsel do with the resolution professional, and Claw does not do it for you. Where Claw helps is in finding out, early, that a customer has gone into insolvency, which is the single thing that makes or breaks an operational creditor's claim. Claw tracks NCLT and NCLAT matters, along with High Court proceedings, across 9,102 courts, benches and forums, with alerts and monitoring, so a new insolvency filing against a debtor surfaces rather than being missed. ClawScore adds entity level insolvency and litigation monitoring, flagging new filings against the companies you supply, and its Legal GPT researches across 30 crore+ judgments, with Supreme Court decisions from 1950 and High Court decisions from 1990, so counsel can see how tribunals have treated operational creditor claims and disputed debts before. Results return in under 5 seconds, and Claw does not train its AI models on your documents. To check whether a customer already faces an insolvency or recovery proceeding, run a case search across Indian courts by company name. A clean result means nothing was found on the forums and date searched, not that nothing exists, and this is general information, not legal advice.
Related reading: how CoC voting shares and decisions work and how to object to a resolution plan.
09Sources and further reading
- Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (CIRP Regulations, 2016 and Form B): ibbi.gov.in
- India Code (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016): indiacode.nic.in
- Ministry of Corporate Affairs: mca.gov.in
- Claw: clawlaw.in
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the current form, the last date for claims in the public announcement, and the computation of your debt before you file.
10Frequently asked questions
What form does an operational creditor use to submit a claim?
An operational creditor submits its proof of claim in Form B under Regulation 7 of the IBBI (Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons) Regulations, 2016. Financial creditors use Form C and workmen or employees use Form D. The claim is filed with the interim resolution professional named in the public announcement, with documents proving the debt computed as on the insolvency commencement date.
By when must I file my claim?
By the last date stated in the public announcement, which is issued in Form A when the company enters insolvency and is usually about fourteen days from the start of the process. A late claim is not automatically rejected and resolution professionals and tribunals have accepted some delayed claims, but there is no guaranteed right to file late, so treat the stated date as a hard deadline.
What proof should I attach to a Form B claim?
Attach the documents that show the debt exists and is unpaid: invoices, the contract or purchase orders, proof of supply or delivery such as challans or e-way bills, a statement of account showing the unpaid balance, any demand notice and reply, and GST records where relevant. The resolution professional verifies every claim, so a claim with clean, matched documents is admitted faster and more fully than a thin one.
Do operational creditors get to vote in the insolvency?
Generally no. The committee of creditors is made up of financial creditors, and voting share is based on financial debt. Operational creditors have their claims recorded and dealt with in the resolution plan or the liquidation waterfall, but ordinary trade suppliers do not get a vote on the committee. A resolution plan must still provide operational creditors at least the minimum amount the law requires.
What happens to my claim after I file it?
The resolution professional verifies the claim against your documents and the company records, then admits it in full, in part, or keeps it pending, and places admitted claims on the list of creditors. Your operational debt is then dealt with in the resolution plan the committee approves, or, if the company is liquidated, in the order of priority set by Section 53 of the Code.