Priyanka Jaitly, co-founder, Canvas Communications, "Unpaid dues remain a persistent issue in the communications industry.

While all agencies are vulnerable, mid-size and boutique firms are particularly impacted. Larger agencies typically have access to legal recourse, stronger contracts, and greater influence. For smaller agencies, where every project is deeply personal and resourcing is lean, the impact is far more severe. 

We live in a digital age where social media can amplify a brand overnight, but the credit for that visibility often bypasses the team behind it. 

What’s worse—when dues aren’t cleared, agencies still have to honour payments to stringers, freelancers, and vendors, and ensure salaries go out on time. That financial pressure is real. The hard work, creativity, and emotional investment poured into every campaign often go unrecognised when clients delay or deny payment. For boutique agencies, this isn’t just a business issue—it affects sustainability and the dignity of the profession."

Jaitley agrees that voicing unpaid dues on social media, "Is an extreme measure—and often a last resort. Agencies don’t take this step lightly. But when prolonged silence, repeated follow-ups, and every professional route have been exhausted, speaking up becomes necessary to uphold fairness and accountability within the industry.

Transparency around non-payments is not about naming for the sake of it—it’s about protecting others in the ecosystem. It encourages due diligence, sets clear expectations, and reminds everyone that professional commitments are important. Ultimately, this is not about burning bridges—it’s about fostering a culture where integrity is non-negotiable and standards are upheld for the collective good."

Neha Khilnani, CEO, Connekting Dots puts it bluntly, "Unpaid dues aren’t just financial gaps- they’re breaches of creative dignity.

This isn’t about one agency or one invoice. It’s about the silence that’s enabled a system where creative professionals are asked to deliver, build, and show up while payments are delayed, paused, or quietly buried under ‘internal conversations’.

The truth? Some of the worst offenders are brands with funding, legacy names, and loud promises, but no accountability.

As an agency founder, I’ve seen this firsthand. And while we’re often told to ‘stay quiet’ or ‘let it go,’ I believe the time has come to stand tall, not just for myself, but for our entire industry.

What’s the way forward? A legal backbone for MSMEs,  a public, shared platform for overdue payments, an ecosystem where clients are background-checked too, not just agencies. And most of all, solidarity among us, the ones doing the actual work.

Before blaming the agency for what didn’t get done, perhaps pause to ask: how many times has the brand diluted its vision, changed course without clarity, or treated marketing like a sprint to sales rather than a story in motion?

Let’s stop normalising delay. Let’s start demanding dignity without having to beg for it."

Tapasya Shukla, founder and CEO of 4-month-old firm VeRoMa media, shares, "In this short time, we’ve had the privilege of onboarding more than 10 clients on a retainer basis. We’ve intentionally kept our pricing lean and accessible—without compromising on quality—to build trust and prove value in a competitive market.

 However, we feel it’s important to responsibly bring attention to certain financial and operational challenges that are becoming increasingly common in the service sector, particularly for early-stage agencies like ours."

Shukla says among the challenges they face are as follows:

1. Delayed or Partial Payments

In many cases, clients delay the advance payments well beyond the agreed start dates—often initiating the service first, and only transferring part-payments after 10–15 days into execution. This directly impacts planning, resource allocation, and the quality of delivery.

2. Non-Payment After Deliverables Are Utilised

There have been instances where complete deliverables—ranging from creative assets to strategy decks and PR coverage—have been shared and used, yet the final payments have not been cleared. This not only violates contract terms but undermines the integrity of a working relationship.

3. Withholding Dues Through Arbitrary Justifications

Some clients pay 50% in advance and then cite unsubstantiated dissatisfaction with outputs—despite detailed reports and timely delivery—as a reason to withhold the balance amount. These justifications often lack context and appear more aligned with cost avoidance than genuine concerns.

4. Service Trial, Extraction of Strategy, and In-House Replication

A particularly damaging trend is when clients engage the agency to “test the waters,” only to extract strategic ideas and then discontinue services, either executing the same ideas internally or outsourcing them at unsustainable low costs elsewhere. The expectation that such quality can be maintained without investing in the process, team, or thinking is both impractical and unfair.

Shukla says these practices, while often overlooked in broader industry discussions, place immense strain on small and growing agencies in the following ways:

• Team salaries are delayed.

• Vendor payments are deferred.

• Creative output is compromised due to unpredictable cash flows.

• Founders and leadership are forced to divert personal funds to maintain operations.

Shukla concludes, saying, "We believe that true partnerships are built on mutual respect—of time, effort, professionalism, and financial commitments. Creative services are not intangible favours—they are business-critical functions that involve intellectual property, human capital, and sustained effort.

We are deeply committed to delivering value, and we will continue to stand by our work, our team, and our principles. However, we urge the industry—clients, collaborators, and procurement teams alike—to reflect on these practices. Agencies deserve to be treated as equal business partners, not as expendable vendors."

Shashank Bharadwaj, managing partner at BrandArc Reputation Advisors, shares that one of the biggest challenges in recovering unpaid dues is a lack of recourse. 

Bharadwaj says, "To effectively take up the challenge of long-pending unpaid dues, PR firms need access to affordable legal aid, which is tough to obtain. Additionally, there is a limited number of lawyers who understand the nature of the PR sector. You have specialists in media and copyright law, but not really for communications and PR."

Bharadwaj says If you are an MSME PR firm, you can, of course, file a complaint about pending dues on the MSME Samadhan portal. This online platform allows you to register a complaint and track its progress through the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council (MSEFC). However, the process can take time, sometimes as much as two years, to get a response and requires producing multiple hard copies of several documents as evidence.

Bharadwaj, therefore, suggests the setting up of a database of key offenders tracked by the DI ( director identification) numbers."

Subramaniam M, founder and CEO, Grey Owl PR, has worked at both senior brand and agency-side communications in advertising and PR. 

He agrees that PR firms face a very specific challenge in recovering dues, as there is no way to pressure the client for unpaid dues beyond opting for the legal path.

Subramaniam shares, "In advertising, the Advertising Agencies Association of India works with the Indian Newspaper Society to flag off repeat offenders, which can directly impact the publishing of ads in print media. In PR, no such option is feasible."

He also points out that while unpaid dues exist across all client sectors, the worst offenders are start-ups and real estate. Established firms are usually good about payments, which have fixed processes of payment processes. These can be in 30, 60 or in some cases 90 days."

Vishal Thapa has worked with a global communications consultancy for over 23+ years in finance and client servicing, before moving brand side to the automotive firm AMPL Group as head of PR and media relations in 2024.

Thapa says, There’s no silver bullet, but I feel these 3 proactive measures can significantly reduce the risk of such unpleasant situations.:

1) Work with someone you know relatively better; referral-based clients often turn out to be more reliable than those acquired through cold pitches or casual networking at events.

2) Maintain a data trail as it does wonders; hence, ensure keeping track of deliverables, results, and all correspondence. Data is your best defence when clients question outputs or delay payments. 

3) Follow invoice discipline by submitting invoices promptly and following up. You must also understand your client’s internal payment cycles and align your process accordingly. Remember, the comms lead may be empathetic but still bound by corporate protocols.

Anil Sharma, founder & CEO, ThinkQue Consulting, says, "Unpaid or delayed payments by clients are not just transactional issues—they are serious systemic disruptors.

This impacts every layer of an agency’s health, especially the core team working on the account; further, it snowballs to talent retention, cash flow, morale, and growth capital.

Despite well-documented contracts and quality deliverables, agencies often hesitate to take firm steps like ‘Stop Work’ due to fear of reputational backlash or strained relationships.

The solution lies in a 360° approach.

1.⁠ ⁠Proactive documentation—clearly defined contracts, delivery logs, and approvals—is non-negotiable.

2.⁠ ⁠Strict enforcement of payment milestones must be normalised.

3.⁠ ⁠Service pause protocols should be formally embedded when dues lapse beyond a set period.

4.⁠ ⁠Transparent, respectful dialogue must precede escalations, but non-payment cannot be normalised.

5.⁠ ⁠⁠If diplomacy fails, legal demand notices and IP rights enforcement can offer leverage.

Stop romanticising resilience at the cost of fairness

Sharma further explains, "Equally important is a cultural shift—agencies must stop romanticising resilience at the cost of fairness. Professional respect must reflect in financial discipline, too!

Ultimately, good work deserves a timely reward. Agencies cannot—and should not—bear the brunt of a small player to billion-rupee brands defaulting on the mutually agreed fee-retainership or project work. Payment is not goodwill; it is an obligation. And if that principle is not protected, the very foundation of value exchange in this industry erodes.