• Civil Suit – The lender can file a civil suit for recovering the money owed through promissory note or loan agreement. He can do so under Order 37 of CPC which allows the lender to file a summary suit. 
• Drafting the summary lawsuit will be the initial step in this process, after which the borrower should be served with the summons. Along with the copy and summons, the court requires certain documents to be produced before it.
• The defendant would have to appear in court within 10 days from the date the lawsuit has been filed. In case the debtor doesn’t show up, the lender would have to show the court the summons which were previously sent, after which the judge may compel him to send another summons.
• In case the defendant has a defence, he would have raised it in the court; if not, the judge would accept the claim of the lender as genuine and shall award judgement accordingly in his favour. – The creditor may lodge a complaint under Negotiable Instrument (NI) Act also. The Act could only be used to file a suit against parties who did not return the money which was lent through instruments including the cheques, exchange bills, etc.
• In case the borrower has returned the money to the lender by a cheque, which was discovered to have had bounced, the lender can launch a lawsuit, as has been provided under Section 138 of the NI Act.
• In this case, the repayment period has been outlined in 30 days. In case the money still has not been repaid, the lender would bring a criminal complaint against the debtor.
• In case, the court deems the respondent as guilty, he will have to serve a two-year prison sentence and shall be required to repay the full amount of the cheque, as well as the fines and penalties which shall be levied on him by the Court.

● Criminal Suit 

If the lender can prove that the debtor had committed a criminal breach of trust and had not returned his money, he can file a suit under Section 420 and Section 406 of IPC for cheating and criminal breach and if the court finds the debtor guilty, the person will be imprisoned and will even have to repay the money he borrowed.

● Out of Court Settlement

 The lender has the option of choosing an out-of-court settlement through Lok Adalat, arbitration, or conciliation to recover the money owed. This is one of the least expensive and fastest ways to recover. Both parties must be willing to and present themselves at the hearing in order to reach an out-of-court settlement. The parties are typically heard by the arbitrators before the decision is made. Once the award has been announced, there is usually no room for appeal.