Late Payment in Commercial Transactions
Also known as: Late Payment Interest, Payment Terms, TCC Article 1530, Geç Ödeme, Ticari İşlerde Geç Ödeme
Author Ali Gül
In short
Rules limiting payment periods in the supply of goods and services between businesses, providing for default without notice and entitling the creditor to interest and compensation for recovery costs.
TCC Article 1530 sets special rules to prevent late payment in transactions between commercial enterprises for the supply of goods and services. The aim is in particular to prevent small businesses from bearing the financing burden of long payment terms.
Default Without Notice
Where the creditor has performed its supply obligation but the debtor fails to pay on the agreed date or within the agreed term, the debtor falls into default without any notice, except where not responsible for the delay (TCC Article 1530(2)), and the creditor is entitled to interest even if not agreed.
Payment Periods
- No term agreed: Thirty days from receipt of the invoice or equivalent payment request; if the date of receipt is uncertain, from delivery of the goods or services (TCC Article 1530(4)).
- Acceptance or verification procedure: Thirty days from acceptance or verification; if the contractual procedure is unduly long and grossly unfair to the creditor, it is deemed to be thirty days.
- Agreed term: At most sixty days. A longer term is possible if expressly agreed and not grossly unfair to the creditor; however, where the creditor is an SME or an agricultural or livestock producer, or the debtor is a large enterprise, sixty days cannot be exceeded (TCC Article 1530(5)).
- Instalments: The period rules apply to the first instalment. Instalment clauses are void where the creditor is an SME or producer and the debtor a large enterprise.
Interest and Compensation
If no interest rate is agreed, or the agreed terms are void, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey announces each January the applicable interest rate and the minimum compensation for recovery costs. The rate must be at least eight percentage points above the commercial default interest rate (TCC Article 1530(7)). The 2026 rates were published in the Official Gazette of 2 January 2026.
Void Terms
Clauses excluding late payment interest, providing for grossly unfair low interest, or excluding or limiting the debtor’s liability for the creditor’s losses from late payment are void (TCC Article 1530(6)). For general default rules see Default and Advance Interest Rate.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if the contract does not specify a payment term?
The debtor falls into default without notice at the end of thirty days from receiving the invoice or equivalent payment request, and the creditor becomes entitled to interest (TCC Article 1530(4)).
Can the parties agree a 90-day payment term?
As a rule, the payment term may not exceed sixty days. The parties may expressly agree a longer term provided it is not grossly unfair to the creditor. But where the creditor is an SME or an agricultural or livestock producer, or the debtor is a large enterprise, the term may not exceed sixty days (TCC Article 1530(5)).
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