New Delhi, May 2 -- More than 40,000 Indian small businesses, including 12,000 from Gujarat alone, have taken the drastic step of cancelling their registrations, as highlighted in a CNBC Awaaz report.

These businesses have approached the Supreme Court with an appeal to overturn the mandated rule that requires payments owed to them to be cleared within a strict 45-day period.

Thousands of small businesses allege that the influx of new orders from larger customers has dwindled considerably since the regulation came into effect on April 1.

Jayendra Tanna, President, Federation of All India Vyapar Mandal, highlighted the unintended consequence of the rule, stating that business has started flowing from registered entities to unregistered ...