Section 187 - Acceptance of payment through prescribed electronic modes
Simple decode This is an infrastructure obligation, not a rule that every customer must use a particular mode. The trigger is preceding-year business or professional turnover above ₹50 crore. Rule 133 prescribes mandatory acceptance facilities that must be offered in addition to any other modes already available.
Reviewed by CA Nikhil Gupta · Updated 9 October 2026
Current law and effective date
Section 187 is controlled against the consolidated Income-tax Act, 2025 as amended by the Finance Act, 2026. The Act and Income-tax Rules, 2026 operate from 1 April 2026; earlier years and saved proceedings require the repeal-and-savings framework rather than automatic migration.
Primary statute: Income Tax Department consolidated Act | Rules: Notified Income-tax Rules, 2026
2-minute decode
Simple decode This is an infrastructure obligation, not a rule that every customer must use a particular mode. The trigger is preceding-year business or professional turnover above ₹50 crore. Rule 133 prescribes mandatory acceptance facilities that must be offered in addition to any other modes already available.
Who should use this section
Businesses and professionals above the prescribed preceding-year receipts threshold that must offer the prescribed electronic payment facility.
Old-law bridge
section 269SU
The old-law bridge is navigational, not automatic precedent transfer. Match the 1961 Act wording, saved proceedings, current 2025 Act text and effective date before importing an older interpretation.
Finance Act 2026 / current-law note
No section-specific Finance Act, 2026 textual substitution is separately flagged for section 187; the consolidated post-Finance-Act-2026 text remains the controlling version and must be used instead of pre-1 April 2026 extracts.
Professional alert
Re-test the threshold at the start of every tax year. Keep screenshots, acquiring-bank agreements and uptime evidence. Display prescribed modes consistently across stores, apps and websites.
Connected Income-tax Rules, 2026 and Forms
| Rule | Current control | Form |
|---|---|---|
| Rule 133 | Prescribed electronic modes for section 187 | - |
Worked application
A retailer crossed ₹50 crore turnover in the preceding tax year. It accepts cards and net banking but has no BHIM-UPI QR facility. Rule 133 requires the additional prescribed facilities; existing card acceptance alone is not enough.
Evidence / compliance checklist
- Re-test the threshold at the start of every tax year (section 187 evidence control 1).
- Keep screenshots, acquiring-bank agreements and uptime evidence (section 187 evidence control 2).
- Display prescribed modes consistently across stores, apps and websites (section 187 evidence control 3).
- Archive the prescribed Rule/Form output for section 187 together with the acknowledgement, filing date and underlying computation.
Common mistake
A common section 187 error is to apply the old-law label or headline rate without rebuilding the current statutory conditions. For “Acceptance of payment through prescribed electronic modes”, the safer control is to test the exact taxpayer/transaction facts, the operative tax year, every linked Rule/Form and the Finance Act 2026 consolidated wording. Re-test the threshold at the start of every tax year. Keep screenshots, acquiring-bank agreements and uptime evidence. Display prescribed modes consistently across stores, apps and websites.
Recommended approach
For section 187, start with the legal trigger in “Acceptance of payment through prescribed electronic modes”, document the evidence for that trigger, then run the computation or procedural step against the current text. As a cross-check, verify this provision-specific checkpoint: Specified businesses/professions above Rs 50 crore preceding-year sales, turnover or gross receipts must provide the prescribed electronic payment facility.
Thresholds, periods and timing checkpoints
- Specified businesses/professions above Rs 50 crore preceding-year sales, turnover or gross receipts must provide the prescribed electronic payment facility.
Related provisions and interaction map
Section 187 must be reconciled with the other sections 185-189 payment-mode restrictions/definitions, the associated penalty or prosecution provisions, and any prescribed electronic-mode rules.
Current statutory text
Primary-source trail
Statute: Income-tax Act, 2025 as amended by Finance Act, 2026
Rules: Income-tax Rules, 2026
Law navigation: Income Tax Department 2025 Act / Rules hub
Quoting note: Use the official consolidated Act for verbatim legislative language.
FAQs
Does an old Income-tax Act, 1961 case automatically decide section 187?
No. The old-law bridge helps research, but transferability depends on materially matching language, transition rules and any Finance Act 2026 change.
Which text should be quoted in advice or litigation?
Quote the consolidated official statute for the relevant tax year. If this page presents a provision summary rather than complete statutory text, use the official consolidated Act for verbatim legislative language.