The cation of the title compound, C(14)H(15)N(2)O(2) (+)·Cl(-), comprises two almost ideally planar systems, 3-nitro-phenyl (r.m.s. deviation = 0.0117 Å) and 4-methyl-phenyl (r.m.s. deviation = 0.238 Å), separated by the central C-N bond, and with their mean planes inclined to one another by 61.36 (5)°. In the crystal, hydrogen-bonded chains running along [001] are generated by connecting neighbouring mol-ecules via N-H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds and consolidated by C-H⋯Cl and C-H⋯O inter-actions. Within these chains, fused R(2) (1)(6) and R(3) (2)(10) ring motifs are formed. Parallel chains are further linked into a two-dimensional network parallel to (100) via C-H⋯O inter-actions.