DRT Hyderabad: What Cases Can Be Filed Before the DRT?

The short answer

The Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) at Hyderabad is a statutory tribunal, not a convenient extra civil court.

In outline, it hears:

• original applications (OAs) by banks and specified financial institutions for recovery of debts, under the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act, 1993, subject to the notified pecuniary threshold and the other conditions of that Act;
• applications under Section 17 of the SARFAESI Act, 2002 by a borrower, guarantor or other person aggrieved by measures taken by a secured creditor;
• connected matters the statute assigns to it.

It does not exist to collect every unpaid invoice in Telangana.

This is general information. It is not a list of every matter the Tribunal may entertain, and not a promise of any stay.

What usually does not belong in the DRT

• a private money-lending dispute between individuals or ordinary companies who are not “financial institutions” as defined;
• a pure title suit to the land;
• a consumer complaint on a different cause;
• a Section 138 cheque-bounce prosecution;
• an IBC application — that is the NCLT, not the DRT. See Section 9 IBC.

Filing in the DRT because the amount is large, or because the defendant is in Hyderabad, is not enough.

Original application versus Section 17

	Original application	SARFAESI Section 17
Who usually files	Bank / specified FI	Borrower, guarantor, or other aggrieved person
What it is	Recovery of a debt	Challenge to a SARFAESI measure (possession, sale, etc.)
Typical clock	Limitation under the RDB Act / the documents	Short period from the measure (ordinarily 45 days)
Next step	Recovery process under the Act	Appeal under Section 18, with statutory deposit

Keep these captions apart. A Section 17 application is not an OA with a different title.

Why the papers matter more than the cause title

The Tribunal will read the account documents, the security, the guarantee, the notice chain, and the dates. For SARFAESI, see what a borrower should do after a notice. Limitation and the Section 18 deposit are not clerical.

Territorial jurisdiction depends on where the defendant resides or works, or where the cause of action arises, as the RDB Act provides — not on where it is convenient to travel.

Related: banking and debt recovery. Contact with the OA, the notice, or the sale paper.

Nothing in this article is legal advice or a warranty of any order of the Tribunal.