The Mediation Act, 2023

(1) This Act may be called the Mediation Act, 2023. (2) It shall extend to the whole of India. (3) It shall come into force on such date1 as the Central Government may, by notification, appointand different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act and any reference in any suchprovision to the commencement of this Act shall be construed as a reference to the coming into forceof that provision.

This Act shall apply where mediation is conducted in India, and-- (i) all or both parties habitually reside in or are incorporated in or have their place of businessin India; or (ii) the mediation agreement provides that any dispute shall be resolved in accordance with theprovisions of this Act; or (iii) there is an international mediation; or (iv) wherein one of the parties to the dispute is the Central Government or a State Governmentor agencies, public bodies, corporations and local bodies, including entities controlled or owned bysuch Government and where the matter pertains to a commercial dispute; or (v) to any other kind of dispute if deemed appropriate and notified by the Central Governmentor a State Government from time to time, for resolution through mediation under this Act, whereinsuch Governments, or agencies, public bodies, corporations and local bodies including entitiescontrolled or owned by them, is a party.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, -- (a) "commercial dispute" means a dispute defined in clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 2 ofthe Commercial Courts Act, 2015 (4 of 2016); (b) "community mediator" means a mediator for the purposes of conduct of community mediationunder Chapter X; (c) "Council" means the Mediation Council of India established under section 31; (d) "court" means the competent court in India having pecuniary and territorial jurisdiction andhaving jurisdiction to decide the disputes forming the subject matter of mediation, if the same hadbeen the subject matter of a suit or proceeding; (e) "court-annexed mediation" means mediation including pre-litigation mediation conducted at themediation centres established by any court or tribunal; (f) "institutional mediation" means mediation conducted under the aegis of a mediation serviceprovider; (g) "international mediation" means mediation undertaken under this Act and relates to acommercial dispute arising out of a legal relationship, contractual or otherwise, under any law for thetime being in force in India, and where at least one of the parties, is.-- (i) an individual who is a national of, or habitually resides in, any country other than India; or (ii) a body corporate including a Limited Liability Partnership of any nature, with its place ofbusiness outside India; or (iii) an association or body of individuals whose place of business is outside India; or (iv) the Government of a foreign country; (h) "mediation" includes a process, whether referred to by the expression mediation, pre-litigationmediation, online mediation, community mediation, conciliation or an expression of similar import,whereby parties attempt to reach an amicable settlement of their dispute with the assistance of a thirdperson referred to as mediator, who does not have the authority to impose a settlement upon the partiesto the dispute; (i) "mediator" means a person who is appointed to be a mediator, by the parties or by a mediationservice provider, to undertake mediation, and includes a person registered as mediator with theCouncil. Explanation.--Where more than one mediator is appointed for a mediation, reference to a mediatorunder this Act shall be a reference to all the mediators; (j) "mediation agreement" means a mediation agreement referred to in sub-section (1) ofsection 4; (k) "mediation communication" means communication made, whether in electronic form orotherwise, through-- (i) anything said or done; (ii) any document; or (iii) any information provided, for the purposes of, or in relation to, or in the course of mediation, and includes a mediationagreement or a mediated settlement agreement; (l) "mediation institute" means a body or organisation that provides training, continuous educationand certification of mediators and carries out such other functions under this Act; (m) "mediation service provider" means a mediation service provider referred to in sub-section (1)of section 40; (n) "mediated settlement agreement" means mediated settlement agreement referred to insub-section (1) of section 19; (o) "Member" means a Full-Time or Part-Time Member of the Council and includes theChairperson; (p) "notification" means notification published in the Official Gazette and the expression"notified" with its cognate meanings and grammatical variations shall be construed accordingly; (q) "online mediation" means online mediation referred to in section 30; (r) "participants" means persons other than the parties who participate in the mediation andincludes advisers, advocates, consultants and any technical experts and observers; (s) "party" means a party to a mediation agreement or mediation proceeding whose agreement orconsent is necessary to resolve the dispute and includes their successors; (t) "place of business" includes-- (a) a place from where the business is ordinarily carried on, and includes a warehouse, agodown or any other place where a party stores it's goods, supplies or receives goods or services orboth; or (b) a place where a party maintains its books of account; or (c) a place where a party is engaged in business through an agent, by whatever name called; (u) "pre-litigation mediation" means a process of undertaking mediation, as provided undersection 5, for settlement of disputes prior to the filing of a suit or proceeding of civil or commercialnature in respect thereof, before a court or notified tribunal under sub-section (2) of section 5; (v) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made by the Central Government under this Act; (w) "Schedule" means the Schedule annexed to this Act; (x) "secure electronic signature" with reference to online mediation means, electronic signaturesreferred to in section 15 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000); and (y) "specified" means specified by regulations made by the Council under this Act.

(1) A mediation agreement shall be in writing, by or between partiesand anyone claiming through them, to submit to mediation all or certain disputes which have arisen orwhich may arise between the parties. (2) A mediation agreement may be in the form of a mediation clause in a contract or in the form ofa separate agreement. (3) A mediation agreement is in writing, if it is contained in or recorded as-- (a) any document signed by the parties; (b) an exchange of communications or letters including through electronic form as providedunder the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000); (c) any pleadings in a suit or any other proceedings in which existence of mediation agreementis alleged by one party and not denied by the other. (4) A reference in any agreement containing a mediation clause shall constitute a mediationagreement if the agreement is in writing and the reference is such as to make the mediation clause aspart of the agreement. (5) The parties may agree to submit to mediation any dispute arising between them under anagreement, whether entered prior to arising of the dispute or subsequent thereto. (6) A mediation agreement in case of international mediation shall refer to an agreement forresolution in matters of commercial disputes referred to in clause (a) of section 3.

(1) Subject to other provisions of this Act, whether any mediationagreement exists or not, the parties before filing any suit or proceedings of civil or commercial nature in any court, may voluntarily and with mutual consent take steps to settle the disputes by pre-litigationmediation in accordance with the provisions of this Act: Provided that pre-litigation mediation in matters of commercial disputes of Specified Value shallbe undertaken in accordance with the provisions of section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act,2015 (4 of 2016), and the rules made thereunder. (2) The provisions of sub-section (1) shall be applicable to the tribunals notified by the CentralGovernment or a State Government, as the case may be. (3) For the purposes of sub-sections (1) and (2), unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties, amediator,-- (i) registered with the Council; or (ii) empanelled by a court-annexed mediation centre; or (iii) empanelled by an Authority constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act,1987 (39 of 1987); or (iv) empanelled by a mediation service provider recognised under this Act,shall conduct pre-litigation mediation. (4) For conducting pre-litigation mediation under clauses (ii) and (iii) of sub-section (3), a partymay request any person designated for this purpose by the High Courts, or an Authority constitutedunder the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 (39 of 1987), as the case may be. (5) The court-annexed mediation centre and an Authority constituted under the Legal ServicesAuthorities Act, 1987 (39 of 1987), shall maintain a panel of mediators for the purposes ofpre-litigation mediation. (6) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-sections (1) and (2) and the Motor Vehicles Act,1988 (59 of 1988), when an application for compensation arising out of an accident is made before theClaims Tribunal, if the settlement as provided for in section 149 of that Act is not arrived at betweenthe parties, the Claims Tribunal shall refer the parties for mediation to a mediator or mediation serviceprovider under this Act. (7) Where the parties arrive at a settlement agreement under sub-section (6), it shall be placedbefore the Claims Tribunal for its consideration. (8) If the parties do not reach to settlement agreement under sub-section (6), a non-settlementreport prepared by the mediator shall be forwarded to the Claims Tribunal, which has referred thematter for mediation, for adjudication.