Payment Orders in Romania

Have a contract and invoices, but the money isn’t coming in? I represent you at the courts in Cluj, and if you’re the debtor and have received an order, I help you challenge it in time.

When there’s a contract and invoices, it’s usually the first debt recovery route I think of. For other situations, see the civil law page.

When can you use a payment order?

The procedure applies to claims that are certain, liquid and due and consist of an obligation to pay a sum of money. The claim must arise from a civil contract evidenced by a document, including a contract between a business (profesionist) and a contracting authority, or be determined under a statute, regulation or other document accepted by the parties by signature or in another way the law allows (art. 1.014(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure). Claims registered in the list of creditors’ claims (masa credală) in insolvency proceedings are excluded (art. 1.014(2)).

In practice, a payment order works when you have a signed contract, accepted invoices, a signed acceptance report (proces-verbal de recepție) or a written acknowledgement of the debt. If the amount is open to dispute or has to be proven with witnesses or expert evidence, the right route is an ordinary court action.

How does the procedure work, step by step?

1. The formal demand (somație). Through a bailiff (executor judecătoresc), or by registered letter with declared contents and acknowledgement of receipt, you serve the debtor with a formal demand to pay within 15 days of receipt (art. 1.015(1)). The formal demand interrupts the limitation period (termen de prescripție) under art. 2.540 of the Civil Code (Codul civil), that is, only if it’s followed by a court claim within 6 months.
2. The application. If the debtor doesn’t pay in time, you file the application with the court that would hear the merits at first instance (art. 1.016): the district court (judecătorie) for amounts up to and including 200,000 lei, the tribunal above that (art. 94 point 1(k) and art. 95 point 1). You attach the documents proving the amount and proof that the formal demand was served; without them, the application is dismissed as inadmissible (art. 1.017(2)). If the parties didn’t agree an interest rate for late payment, statutory penalty interest (dobânda legală penalizatoare) applies (art. 1.018(1)).
3. Summons and statement of defence. The judge summons the parties under the rules for urgent cases; the summons is delivered 10 days before the hearing, and the debtor receives a copy of the application and the documents (art. 1.019(1) and (2)). The debtor must file a statement of defence (întâmpinare) at least 3 days before the hearing; if they don’t, the court may treat this as an admission of the claims (art. 1.019(3)).
4. The hearing. If the creditor declares that payment has been received, the case is closed by a final ruling (încheiere); if the parties reach an agreement on payment, the court gives a consent judgment (hotărâre de expedient), which is final and is an enforceable title (art. 1.020). If the debtor contests the claim, the court examines the defence on the basis of the documents and the parties’ explanations (art. 1.021(1)).
5. The order. When the claims are well founded, the court issues the payment order, stating the amount and the payment deadline, which is between 10 and 30 days from service (art. 1.022(1) and (3)). If only part of the claims is well founded, the order is issued for that part, and you can still bring an ordinary court action for the rest (art. 1.022(2)). If the claim isn’t contested, the order is issued no later than 45 days after the application is filed (art. 1.023).
6. The application for annulment (cerere în anulare). The debtor can file it within 10 days of the order being handed over or served; the creditor can use it against a ruling that rejects the application or against a partial order (art. 1.024(1) and (2)). The same court hears it, with a panel of 2 judges, and it doesn’t suspend enforcement (executare silită) unless security (cauțiune) is paid. The decision on the application for annulment is final (art. 1.024(4)-(8)).
7. Enforcement. The order is enforceable even if an application for annulment is filed against it, and it becomes final if no such application is filed or if it’s dismissed (art. 1.025(1)). If the debtor doesn’t pay, we move on to enforcement. In a challenge to enforcement (contestație la executare), which I explain in a separate guide (in Romanian), the debtor can raise only irregularities in the enforcement and grounds for extinguishing the obligation that arose later (art. 1.025(2)).

When does the court refuse to issue the order?

The court rejects the application by a ruling when the debtor’s defence is supported by the documents in the file, or when the defences on the merits need evidence other than documents that is admissible in ordinary proceedings (art. 1.021(1) and (2)). An application filed without proof that the formal demand was served is inadmissible (art. 1.017(2)). In all these cases, the creditor can bring an ordinary court claim (art. 1.021(3)).

Payment order, small claims procedure or ordinary court action?

For small amounts, and where the documents are incomplete, the small claims procedure (in Romanian) is often the right alternative. For compensation that has to be proven and calculated, see breach of contract.

Court stamp duty and deadlines

An application for a payment order pays a stamp duty of 200 lei (art. 6(2) of OUG 80/2013). If you end up in ordinary proceedings, the duty is calculated on the value of the claim; you can estimate it with the stamp duty calculator. You can estimate the interest you claim along with the debt with the statutory and penalty interest calculator. The procedure’s deadlines are short: you can check the last day of the 15-day formal demand period, or of the 10-day period for the application for annulment, with the court deadline calculator.

What documents you need

• the contract, the purchase order or any document the debtor accepted by signing it;
• the invoices, delivery notes and acceptance reports;
• the formal demand and proof that it was served (the acknowledgement of receipt or the bailiff’s report);
• bank statements showing partial payments, if there were any;
• your correspondence with the debtor.

How I represent you

1. I check whether the claim meets the conditions of art. 1.014 and whether the documents are enough.
2. I draft and serve the formal demand, then we wait for the 15 days to run out.
3. I file the application and represent you at the hearing; if the debtor contests the claim, I tell you straight away whether it’s worth continuing through ordinary proceedings.
4. I have the order enforced through a bailiff and respond to the application for annulment or the challenge to enforcement, if either is filed.

The up-to-date text of the Code of Civil Procedure is on legislatie.just.ro. If someone owes you money under an invoice or a contract, write to me or call me. Send me the documents as they are and I’ll tell you whether a payment order is the right route.