Limitation Period & Court Deadline Calculator
Find the last date to file a suit, appeal, cheque bounce complaint, consumer case, RTI appeal or tax appeal in India — calculated from the Limitation Act, 1963 and the governing statute.
Free · No sign-up · Rules last reviewed 29 October 2026
Civil suits
Recover money lent (loan)
- Time limit
- 3 years
- Law
- Limitation Act, 1963 — Articles 19 and 21
- Time starts from
- the date the loan was made (Article 19/21)
- Can a delay be excused?
- No — Section 5 does not apply to suits. A written acknowledgment of the debt or part-payment before expiry starts a fresh 3-year period (Sections 18 and 19).
This tool applies the statutory rule to the date you enter. It does not know court holidays, time excluded for obtaining certified copies (Section 12, Limitation Act), or special facts such as acknowledgment of debt or fraud (Sections 17–19). File well before the date shown and confirm with an advocate.
How the deadline is counted
Indian law excludes the day on which time starts (Section 12(1), Limitation Act, 1963 and Section 9, General Clauses Act, 1897). A period in months or years ends on the same date of the later month; if that month is shorter, it ends on its last day. If the court is closed on the last day, you may file when it reopens (Section 4).
Suits filed after the limitation period must be dismissed even if the defence does not raise it (Section 3). Appeals and applications can be admitted late under Section 5 only if you show “sufficient cause” for each day of delay. For civil suits, a written acknowledgment of liability or a part-payment before time runs out starts a fresh period (Sections 18–19).
Related help: cheque bounce legal notice, consumer complaint filing and AI Judgment Finder.