Ask sellers their #1 GeM frustration, and you'll hear "payments" — but trace those payment stories and most turn out to be CRAC stories: goods delivered, invoice raised, and a certificate sitting ungenerated while everyone thinks the clock is running. This guide provides the full picture: what CRAC is, how the delivery-to-payment chain actually works, and the playbook when a buyer sits on it.
The sequence every product order follows:
| Step | What Happens | Whose Action |
|---|---|---|
Delivery |
Goods reach the consignee (the receiving office — not always the buyer). | Yours |
PRC |
Provisional Receipt Certificate: Consignee acknowledges goods arrived. | Consignee |
Inspection |
Goods checked against the listed specs — your golden parameters are the yardstick. | Consignee / Buyer |
CRAC |
Consignee certifies goods accepted — within a defined window from delivery. | Consignee |
Invoice Processing |
Your invoice moves for payment against the CRAC. | Buyer side (PFMS chain) |
Payment |
Disbursement within prescribed days from CRAC. | Buyer / PAO |
The two certificates trip people constantly: PRC says "it arrived"; CRAC says "we accept it." PRC starts nothing financially. CRAC is the trigger. A stack of PRCs and invoices with no CRACs is revenue on paper and nothing in the bank.
CRAC is a buyer-side action — the consignee generates it in the portal after inspection. Sellers can't generate it, but sellers absolutely influence it through proactive steps:
The most-asked question in this cluster, answered as the escalation ladder we actually run:
Direct consignee follow-up — polite, referenced, evidenced. Most delays are workload, not disputes; a specific reminder ("Order GEMC-…, delivered [date], PRC generated [date], acceptance window closes [date]") resolves the majority.
Raise it formally — written communication to the buyer/consignee citing the order, the 10-day CRAC obligation, and your evidence. And know your structural protection: if the consignee neither accepts nor complains within the stipulated window, GeM's Auto-CRAC provision generates the certificate automatically — assuming no complaint/incident stands against the delivery. This is precisely why delivering inspection-clean and documented matters: a clean delivery either gets its CRAC manually or earns it automatically; a disputed one gets neither.
Raise an incident/ticket with the full trail — order, delivery proof, PRC, correspondence. Tickets with assembled evidence get action; tickets with grievances get sympathy.
Some buying offices are habitually slow — factor that into whether you bid their tenders again, and at what price. Payment velocity is a real cost of serving a buyer; experienced sellers price it.
Sequence discipline is vital: invoice per the order's requirements (e-invoice/GST correctness — reference the order-to-payment guide), matched strictly to the CRAC'd quantities. Quantity mismatches between invoice and CRAC stall the payment file in reconciliation — when partial acceptance happens, re-align paperwork before pushing for payment.
Services run the equivalent acceptance logic against SLA compliance — service delivery confirmed by the buyer against the listing's SLAs. Follow the exact same seller playbook: deliver evidenced, know the window, and follow up as process.