Restriction on accepting cash receipts

No person can RECEIVE ≥ ₹2,00,000 in cash from a single person in a day, in aggregate from a single person for a single transaction, or in respect of a single event / occasion.

Key points

• There are three independent triggers, and breaching any one attracts the penalty.
• The first — the SINGLE-DAY trigger — applies when cash received from one person ON THE SAME CALENDAR DATE sums to ≥ ₹2 L, across any number of transactions.
• For example, ₹1.5 L received at 10am plus ₹0.6 L at 5pm on the same day totals ₹2.1 L — a violation.
• Cash received on DIFFERENT DAYS does not trip this limb.
• The second — the SINGLE-TRANSACTION trigger — applies when cash received from one person AGAINST ONE INVOICE, CONTRACT, or BILL aggregates to ≥ ₹2 L, REGARDLESS of how many days the receipts span.
• For example, an invoice for ₹3.6 L paid as ₹1.8 L on day 1 plus ₹1.8 L on day 2 is the SAME TRANSACTION — a violation under this limb (not the single-day one).
• The third — the SINGLE-EVENT trigger — applies when cash received from one person IN RESPECT OF ONE EVENT or OCCASION (wedding, celebration, funeral, hotel stay) sums to ≥ ₹2 L.
• So ₹1 L for room plus ₹1.5 L for catering at the same wedding from one guest is a violation.
• The penalty under §271DA is 100% of the cash received in contravention.
• Government, banking companies, co-operative banks, and receipts already covered by §269SS are excluded — but there is NO exemption for hospitals, schools, or marriage halls, all of which routinely trip the 'occasion' limb.

Reference: §269ST, ITA 1961 — under ITA 2025 (FY 26-27 onwards), this is §186