Disputes · Provision
It has to be in writing, and it has to be an agreement to submit disputes to arbitration — a clause naming a city is not enough. (Section 7, Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.) In force since 22 August 1996 · The Act replaced the Arbitration Act, 1940 · Text checked against India Code on 25 October 2026.
Check your compliance exposure — free All provisions7. Arbitration agreement.— (1) In this Part, "arbitration agreement" means an agreement by the parties to submit to arbitration all or certain disputes which have arisen or which may arise between them in respect of a defined legal relationship, whether contractual or not. (2) An arbitration agreement may be in the form of an arbitration clause in a contract or in the form of a separate agreement. (3) An arbitration agreement shall be in writing. (4) An arbitration agreement is in writing if it is contained in— (a) a document signed by the parties; (b) an exchange of letters, telex, telegrams or other means of telecommunication including communication through electronic means which provide a record of the agreement; or (c) an exchange of statements of claim and defence in which the existence of the agreement is alleged by one party and not denied by the other. (5) The reference in a contract to a document containing an arbitration clause constitutes an arbitration agreement if the contract is in writing and the reference is such as to make that arbitration clause part of the contract.
In writing. Electronic records qualify. An oral agreement to arbitrate does not.
Not necessarily. Section 7(4) treats an exchange of letters or electronic communications that provides a record of the agreement, and an exchange of pleadings where one party asserts the agreement and the other does not deny it, as writing.
Yes, under section 7(5), where the contract is in writing and the reference is such as to make that arbitration clause part of the contract.
No. There must be an agreement to submit disputes to arbitration. A clause that fixes a venue or jurisdiction without that agreement does not satisfy section 7.
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