The Government of India has taken several steps to strengthen the dispute resolution environment in the country and to promote Ease of Doing Business and enforcement of contracts inter-alia through legislative interventions from time to time. The Department of Legal Affairs is presently in the process of considering further amendments in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996.

The aim and purpose is to provide further boost to institutional arbitration, reduce court intervention in arbitrations and ensuring timely conclusion of arbitration proceedings.

In view thereof, the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2024 and a tabular statement depicting existing provision and proposed amendment have been prepared. The Department, now invites comments/feedback from the public as part of the public consultation exercise on the draft amendments. The draft Bill and tabular statement can be accessed at https://legalaffairs.gov.in/. Comments on the draft Bill may be sent by email on avnit.singh[at]gov[dot]in and ndiac-dla[at]gov[dot]in latest by 03.11.2024.

Arbitration law reform invites public comment to strengthen institutional arbitration and reduce court intervention, and ensure timely conclusions. The draft Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2024 aims to promote institutional arbitration, limit court intervention in arbitration proceedings, and ensure timely conclusion of arbitrations to strengthen enforcement of contracts and ease of doing business; a tabular statement of existing and proposed provisions accompanies the draft, which is published for public consultation with comments invited by email and materials made available on the Department of Legal Affairs website.