OFFERANDACCEPTANCE

Of
ferandAccept
ancei
sthef
ir
stessent
ialofav
ali
dcont
ract
.Thewor
ds‘
off
er’and
‘
proposal
’ar
esy
nony
mous.Tocr
eat
eanagr
eementt
her
emustbeadef
ini
teof
ferby
onepar
tyandi
tsaccept
ancebyt
heot
her
.
OFFER
Accor
dingt
oSec.2(
a)oft
heI
ndi
ancont
ractActdef
ines‘
off
er’
as“whenoneper
son
si
gni
fi
est
oanot
herhi
swi
l
li
ngnesst
odoort
oabst
ainf
rom doi
ngany
thi
ng,wi
tha
v
iew t
oobt
aini
ngt
heassentoft
hatot
hert
osuchactorabst
inence,hei
ssai
dto
makeapr
oposal
.”
El
ement
sofOf
ferar
easf
oll
ows:
- Ther
emustbeanexpr
essi
onofwi
l
li
ngnesst
odoort
oabst
ainf
rom doi
ng
somet
hing
- Thi
sexpr
essi
onmustbemadet
oanot
herper
son
- Theexpr
essi
onmustbemadewi
thav
iewt
oobt
aint
heassent
/appr
ovalof
t
heot
herper
sonr
egar
dingt
heact
Theper
sonmaki
ngt
hepr
oposali
scal
l
ed‘
promi
sor
’or‘
off
eror
’.Theper
sont
owhom
t
heof
feri
smadei
scal
l
ed‘
promi
see’
or‘
accept
or’
.
RULESREGARDI
NGAVALI
DOFFER
Anof
fert
obev
ali
dmusthav
ethef
oll
owi
ngessent
ial
s:
1.Anof
fermaybe‘
expr
ess’or‘
i
mpl
i
ed’
:Anof
fermaybemadeei
therbywor
ds
orconduct
.Anof
ferexpr
essedbywor
ds,wr
it
tenorspokeni
scal
l
edan
‘
expr
essof
fer
’.Anof
fermaybei
mpl
i
edf
rom t
heconductoft
hepar
ti
esor
ci
rcumst
ancesoft
hecase,
iti
scal
l
edan‘
i
mpl
i
edof
fer
’.
2.Anof
fermaybespeci
fi
corgener
al:Agener
alof
feri
sonewhi
chi
smadet
o
t
hewor
ldatl
argeandmay
beaccept
edbyany
onewhof
ulf
il
sther
equi
sit
e
condi
ti
ons.Aspeci
fi
cof
feri
smadet
odef
ini
te/par
ti
cul
arper
sonorper
sons.
CaseLaw-(
Gener
alof
fer
)Car
li
ll
Vs.Car
bol
i
cSmokeBal
lCo.1893
3.Anof
fermustgi
ver
iset
olegalobl
i
gat
ion:Anof
fert
obev
ali
dmustcr
eat
e
l
egalr
elat
ionshi
pbet
weent
hepar
ti
es.Thev
erypur
poseofent
eri
ngi
ntoan
agr
eementi
stomakei
tenf
orceabl
eatacour
tofl
aw.
4.Thet
ermsoft
heof
fermustbedef
ini
teandcer
tai
n:Thet
erms/cl
auseofan
 of
fershoul
dnotbev
agueori
ndef
ini
te.
5.Theof
fermustbecommuni
cat
ed:Anof
fermustbecommuni
cat
edt
othe
per
son f
orwhom i
tis made.Ther
e can be no accept
ance wi
thoutt
he
knowl
edgeoft
heexi
stenceofanof
fer
.
CaseLaw-Lal
manShukl
aVs.Gaur
idut
t,1913
Communi
cat
ionofSpeci
alt
erms:I
tasext
ensi
onofr
uleno.9,t
hisr
equi
res
t
hatt
hespeci
alt
ermsoft
heof
fermustbespeci
all
ybr
oughtt
othenot
iceof
t
heper
sont
owhom i
tismade,ot
her
wiset
het
ermsar
enotbi
ndi
ngont
he
accept
or.
CaseLaw-Hender
sonVs.St
evenson
6.Anof
fermustbedi
sti
ngui
shedf
rom ani
nvi
tat
iont
oof
fer
: Wher
eapar
ty
pr
oposescer
tai
nter
msonaper
sonwi
thwhom hei
swi
l
li
ngt
onegot
iat
e,he
doesnotmakeanof
fer
,butmer
elyi
nvi
test
heot
herpar
tyt
omakeanof
fer
.
Exampl
esAdv
ert
isement
s,pr
ospect
us,
pri
cet
ags,
cat
alogueset
c.
7.An of
fershoul
d notcont
ainat
erm t
henon-
compl
i
anceofwhi
ch woul
d
amountt
oaccept
ance.
8.Theof
fermustbemadewi
thav
iew t
oobt
aini
ngt
heconsentoft
heot
her
par
ty.
9.Twoi
dent
icalcr
ossof
fer
sdonotcr
eat
eacont
ract
:Whent
wopar
ti
esmake
i
dent
icalof
fer
stoeachot
her
,ini
gnor
anceofeachot
her
’sof
fer
,theof
fer
sar
e
‘
crossof
fer
s’.Cr
oss-
off
ersdonotconst
it
uteofone’
sof
ferbyt
heot
herandas
sucht
her
eisnocompl
eted.
10.
Anof
fercanbemadesubj
ectt
oanyt
ermsandcondi
ti
ons:Anof
fer
orcan
at
tachanyt
ermsandcondi
ti
onst
otheof
ferhei
smaki
ng.Eg.Pr
escr
ibi
nga
modeofaccept
ance
KI
NDSOFOFFER
1.St
andi
ngOf
fer
:Acont
inuousof
feri
sknownasSt
andi
ngof
fer
.
2.Speci
fi
c Of
fer
:Somet
imes t
ender
s ar
einv
ited f
ort
he suppl
yofspeci
fi
c
quant
it
yofgoodsorser
vice.I
nsuchcasewhenaccept
edi
tbecomesa
cont
ract
.
3.Cr
ossOf
fer
:Whent
wopar
ti
esmakesi
mil
arof
fer
stoeachot
herwi
thout
knowi
ngt
heof
fermadebyt
heot
her
.Insuchacasenobi
ndi
ngcont
ractwi
l
l
 becr
eat
edasnoonehasaccept
edt
heof
fermadebyt
heot
her
.
ACCEPTANCE
Acceptanceindi
catest
hewilli
ngnessoft hepar
tyt
owhom t heof
ferhasbeenmade
toagreetothet er
msoft heoffer.Accordi
ngtoSec2(b)oftheactacceptancei
s,
“whent hepersontowhom t hepr oposali
smadesignif
ieshisassenttheret
o,t
he
proposali
ssaidtobeaccepted.”

LEGALRULESREGARDI
NGACCEPTANCE
1.Thepr
oposalmustbeaccept
edt
owhom i
tismade:Anof
fercanbeaccept
ed
onl
ybyt
heper
sonorper
sonst
owhom i
tismade.Howev
er,i
nthecaseofa
gener
alof
fer
,accept
ance can be accept
ed byanyper
son who has t
he
knowl
edgeoft
heof
fer
.
2.Accept
ance may be ei
therexpr
ess ori
mpl
i
ed,unl
ess t
he mannerof
accept
ancehasbeenpr
escr
ibed:Theaccept
ancemustbecommuni
cat
ed
accor
ding t
o someusualand r
easonabl
emanner
,ift
heof
fer
orhasnot
pr
escr
ibedanymodeofaccept
ance.
Wher
ethe of
fer
orhas pr
escr
ibed anymode ofaccept
ance i
tmustbe
accept
edi
nthatmode/
manner
.
I
tshoul
dbenot
edt
hatl
awdoesnotal
l
owanof
fer
ort
opr
escr
ibe‘
si
lence’as
t
hemodeofaccept
ance.
3.Accept
ancemustbeabsol
uteandunqual
i
fied:Theaccept
anceoft
heof
fer
mustbei
ntot
ali
tyi
.e.al
lthet
ermsoft
heof
fermustbeaccept
ed.Aqual
i
fied
i
.e.condi
ti
onal
accept
ancewi
l
lbecount
erof
ferandnotanaccept
ance.
4.Theof
fermustbecommuni
cat
ed:Anof
fermustbecommuni
cat
edt
othe
per
sont
owhom i
tismade.A per
soncanacceptt
heof
feronl
ywhenhe
knowsabouti
t.
Casel
aw-Powel
lVs.Lee1908
5.Accept
ancemustbecommuni
cat
edbyt
heaccept
or/of
fer
ee:Accept
ance
mustbecommuni
cat
edby
,orwi
tht
heaut
hor
it
yof
,theof
fer
eet
otheof
fer
or.
6.Ment
alAccept
ancei
snoaccept
ance:Ment
alaccept
anceorqui
etassentnot
suppor
tedbywor
dsorconductdoesnotamountt
oav
ali
daccept
ance.
Casel
aw-Bor
gdenVs.Met
ropol
i
tanRai
l
wayCo1877
7.Accept
ancemustbegi
venwi
thi
nSpeci
fi
edTi
meorReasonabl
eti
me:I
fthe
 t
ermsoft
heof
ferspeci
fycer
tai
nper
iodwi
thi
nwhi
cht
heof
ferhast
obe
accept
ed,
theaccept
ancemustbeaccept
edwi
thi
nthatspeci
fi
edt
ime.Wher
e
not
imehasbeenspeci
fi
ed,t
heaccept
ancemustbecommuni
cat
edwi
thi
na
r
easonabl
eti
me.‘
Reasonabl
eti
me’woul
ddependupont
hef
act
spar
ti
cul
ar
case.
CaseLaw-Ramsgat
eVi
ctor
iaHot
elVs.Mont
efi
ore
8. Accept
ance mustbe gi
ven bef
oret
he of
ferl
apses ori
srev
oked:I
tis
i
mpor
tantt
hatt
heof
fershoul
dbeaccept
edbef
orei
tlapsesori
srev
okedor
wi
thdr
awnbyt
hepar
tymaki
ngt
heof
fer
.
9.Accept
ancemustbemadewi
thani
ntent
iont
oful
fi
lthet
erms.
10.
Accept
ance mustsucceed t
he of
fer
:Accept
ance mustbe gi
ven af
ter
r
ecei
vi
ngt
heof
fer
.Itshoul
dnotpr
ecedet
heof
fer
.
11.
Rej
ect
edof
fer
scanbeaccept
edonl
y,i
frenewed:of
feroncer
eject
edcannot
beaccept
edagai
nunl
essaf
reshof
feri
smade.

MODESOFRECOVOCATI
ONOFPROPOSALSect
ion5
Accor
dingt
osect
ion5,anof
fermayber
evokedatanyt
imebef
orei
tsaccept
ancei
s
compl
eteasagai
nstt
hepr
oposerbutnotaf
ter
war
ds.
Met
hodsofRev
ocat
ionofOf
fer(
Sect
ion6)
1.Bycommuni
cat
ionofnot
iceofr
evocat
ion
2.Byl
apseoft
imewi
thi
nwhi
cht
heof
ferwast
obeaccept
ed
3.Byf
ail
ureoft
heof
fer
eet
oful
fi
lacondi
ti
onpr
ecedentt
oaccept
ance
4.Byt
hedeat
hori
nsani
tyoft
hepr
oposerpr
ovi
dedt
heaccept
orcomest
oknowofi
t
bef
oreaccept
ance
5.Anoff
ermaybeaccept
edorr
eject
ed.Rej
ect
ionoft
heof
fermaybeoft
hef
oll
owi
ng
twot
ypes:

Expr
essr
eject
ion-Rej
ect
ionbywor
dsspokenorwr
it
ten

I
mpl
i
edr
eject
ion- i
.Count
erof
fermadebyt
heof
fer
ee

i
i
.Condi
ti
onal
orqual
i
fiedaccept
ancegi
venbyt
heof
fer
ee
6.Bycount
erof
feroft
heof
fer
ee
REVOCATI
ONBYACCEPTANCESECTI
ON5
Anaccept
ancemayber
evokedatanyt
imebef
oret
hecommuni
cat
ionofaccept
ancei
s
compl
eteasagai
nstt
heaccept
orbutnotaf
ter
war
ds.
Communi
cat
ionofRev
ocat
ionSect
ion4
Thecommuni
cat
ionofar
evocat
ioni
scompl
ete:
- Asagai
nstt
heper
sonwhomakesi
t,wheni
tisputi
ntoacour
seoft
ransmi
ssi
ont
o
t
heper
sont
owhom i
tismade,soast
obeoutoft
hepoweroft
heper
sonwho
makesi
t
- Asagai
nstt
heper
sont
owhom i
tismade,
wheni
tcomest
ohi
sknowl
edge
Egwhenal
ett
erofr
evocat
ioni
spost
ed(
i)andwhent
hel
ett
erofr
evocat
ioni
srecei
vedbyt
he
per
sonagai
nstwhom i
tismade

Ti
medur
ingwhi
chanof
feroraccept
ancecanber
evoked:
A pr
oposalmayber
evoked anyt
imebef
oret
hecommuni
cat
ion ofi
tsaccept
ancei
s
compl
eteasagai
nstt
hepr
oposer
,butnotaf
ter
war
ds.
An accept
ance can r
evoked atanyt
ime bef
oret
he communi
cat
ion ofaccept
ance i
s
compl
eteasagai
nstt
heaccept
or,
butnotaf
ter
war
ds.