Operational creditor only includes those entities which have provided/supplied goods or services to corporate debtor. An operational creditor cannot include an entity which receives goods or services from a corporate debtor. For example, a customer cannot be an operational creditor of a corporate debtor.
Section 5(21) of the IBC defines an operational debt to mean a claim in respect of the provisions of goods or services. And Section 5(20) defines an operational creditor to mean a person to whom an operational debt is owed. See, CCCL v Hitro Energy Solutions Pvt Ltd 2022 INSC 150 where the Supreme Court adopted a purposive interpretation.