A maintenance order is only as good as its payment. Between the date from which maintenance runs and the date the respondent actually pays, arrears accumulate — sometimes over years of interim orders, appeals and adjournments. This article deals with the mechanics: how arrears are computed, how courts structure their discharge through instalments and bank-transfer directions, when interest is granted on long-unpaid amounts, and the recovery machinery under Section 144(3) of the BNSS.
Arrears run from the date maintenance runs
Every maintenance order — interim or final, under Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (formerly Section 125 CrPC), Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 or Section 20 of the DV Act — specifies the date from which the amount is payable. Arrears are simply the arithmetic between that date and the present: months elapsed, multiplied by the rate applicable in each period, minus payments actually made. The computation is mechanical, but disputes flourish in the gaps: cash payments without receipts, amounts described as gifts, school fees paid directly and claimed as maintenance, and periods when an appellate order varied the rate.
The claimant should file a dated arrears computation sheet in every execution or enforcement application, showing each month, the rate, the amount due, the amount received with its mode and date, and the running balance. A respondent disputing the figure must answer it line by line; a general denial of a precise sheet rarely impresses.
How courts structure payment
Courts enforcing maintenance are concerned with regular, verifiable payment, and over the years a standard toolkit has emerged.
Fixed-date bank transfer
Directions that current maintenance be credited by NEFT or other electronic transfer to the claimant's stated bank account by a fixed day of each month — commonly the 7th or 10th — replace disputed cash handovers with a bank record that speaks for itself.
Instalment schedules for arrears
Where arrears are substantial, courts direct their discharge in defined tranches: often an immediate lump sum followed by monthly instalments payable along with, and in addition to, the current maintenance, with a default clause reviving coercive steps.
Proof of compliance on record
Respondents are frequently directed to place payment proof on the file before each effective date, so that compliance is monitored without a fresh application every month.
For respondents, the instalment route is an opportunity, not a concession of weakness. A respondent who approaches the court with a realistic, income-backed schedule for clearing arrears controls the narrative; one who waits for a warrant does not.
Interest on long-unpaid arrears
Section 144 BNSS says nothing about interest, and there is accordingly no statutory rate — that should be stated plainly at the outset. What courts have done, in appropriate cases, is grant interest on long-outstanding arrears as a discretionary, compensatory measure: maintenance withheld for years loses real value to the claimant while the money has remained with the defaulter, and interest restores part of that loss. The discretion is informed by the length of the default, whether it was wilful or driven by genuine incapacity, whether the respondent litigated obstructively, and whether the claimant herself delayed in seeking enforcement.
Seek it specifically: interest should be prayed for in the execution or arrears application with the period and the basis identified; it is not implied in a prayer for arrears alone.
Justify it on the record: the order sheet showing repeated defaults, dishonoured undertakings and adjournments sought by the respondent is the best material in support.
Expect moderation: because the jurisdiction is compensatory and discretionary, courts fix modest, reasonable rates for defined periods rather than penal ones.
The recovery machinery under Section 144(3) BNSS
When directions and schedules fail, Section 144(3) BNSS (formerly Section 125(3) CrPC) supplies the teeth. If a person fails without sufficient cause to comply with the order, the Magistrate may, for every breach, issue a warrant for levying the amount due in the manner provided for levying fines — that is, the fine-recovery procedure, which reaches the defaulter's movable property and, through the Collector, other assets. The provision further permits sentencing the defaulter to imprisonment for a term as prescribed, for each month's unpaid allowance, where the amount remains unrecovered after execution of the warrant. Imprisonment is a means of enforcement, not a discharge: serving the sentence does not wipe out the arrears, which remain recoverable.
1. Application with computation
The claimant applies for enforcement with the month-wise arrears sheet and proof of the order.
2. Opportunity and sufficient cause
The respondent is heard on whether the failure was without sufficient cause; genuine incapacity is examined on documents, not assertion.
3. Warrant for levy
On default without sufficient cause, a warrant issues for recovery in the manner of fines.
4. Imprisonment on continued default
Where the amount remains unpaid after execution of the warrant, imprisonment may follow as the subsection prescribes — while the debt itself survives.
One timing rule deserves a single line here because it has a full article of its own: under the first proviso to Section 144(3) BNSS (formerly the proviso to Section 125(3) CrPC), a warrant application must be made within one year from the date the amount became due, so claimants should not let arrears age silently.
Record-keeping wins these proceedings
Arrears litigation is documentary. Claimants should keep every bank credit with its narration, insist that any cash payment be receipted, and update the computation sheet before each hearing. Respondents should pay through banking channels with a narration identifying the month — "maintenance October 2026" — retain receipts for any payment made directly for the children, and file compliance proof without being asked. Most arrears disputes that consume years in court are, at bottom, disputes about what was paid and when; a party whose records answer that question in one page usually prevails on the rest.
Frequently Asked Questions
From what date do maintenance arrears accrue?
From the date the maintenance runs, which the order itself fixes — commonly the date of the application, sometimes the date of the order. Everything unpaid between that date and today, at the monthly rate ordered (including any enhanced interim rate for part of the period), constitutes arrears. A clear month-by-month computation sheet, netting off every payment actually made, is the foundation of any arrears proceeding.
Is there a statutory rate of interest on maintenance arrears?
No. Section 144 BNSS (formerly Section 125 CrPC) prescribes no rate of interest on arrears. Interest on long-unpaid arrears is a discretionary measure that courts grant in appropriate cases as compensation for the delay in payment, having regard to the length and wilfulness of the default. It cannot be assumed as of right and must be specifically sought and justified.
Can the court allow arrears to be paid in instalments?
Yes. Where arrears have grown large, courts routinely fix a schedule — a lump sum within a stated time followed by monthly instalments over and above the current maintenance. A realistic schedule proposed by the respondent, backed by his income documents, is treated far more kindly than silence followed by default.
What happens if the respondent simply does not pay?
Section 144(3) BNSS provides the recovery machinery: the Magistrate may issue a warrant for levying the amount due in the manner provided for levying fines, and may also sentence the defaulter to imprisonment for the unpaid amount as the provision prescribes. The first proviso imposes a one-year time discipline on warrant applications, which is examined in a separate article on this site.