Law of Contract (1872):Nature of contract; Classification; Offer and acceptance; Capacity of parties to contract; Free consent; Consideration; Legality of object; Agreement declared void

ii. Acceptance

A proposal or offer is said to have been accepted when the person to whom the proposal is made signifies his assent to the proposal to do or not to do something [Section 2 (b)].

Rules governing acceptance

1. Acceptance must be absolute and unqualified: As per section 7 of the Act, acceptance is valid only when it is absolute and unqualified and is also expressed in some usual and reasonable manner unless the proposal prescribes the manner in which it must be accepted. If the proposal prescribes the manner in which it must be accepted, then it must be accepted accordingly.

2. The acceptance must be communicated

An acceptance must be communicated to the person who made the offer. An offer made by the intended offeree without the knowledge that an offer has been made to him cannot be deemed as an acceptance thereto.

3. Acceptance must be in the prescribed mode

 Where the proposal prescribes the mode of acceptance, it must be accepted in that manner. Where the proposal does not prescribe the manner, then it must be accepted in a reasonable manner.

4. Mere silence is not acceptance

 The acceptance of an offer cannot be implied from the silence of the offeree or his failure to answer, unless the offeree has in any previous conduct indicated that his silence is the evidence of acceptance.

5. The proposer cannot prescribe the method of refusal

The proposer needs to be informed if the offer made by him is accepted,but he cannot insist on him being informed of its non-acceptance.It is the right of the offeree to accept the proposal or not to accept it.

6. An offer once rejected cannot be accepted until it is renewed.

A rejected offer is dead offer and needs to be revived before it can be considered for acceptance.

7. Acceptance may be express or implied

Express acceptance may be written or by word of mouth whereas implied acceptance Could be reflectes by the action or behavior of the person accepting the offer.The later is also called tacit acceptance. According to Section 8 of the Act,tacit acceptance can be acceptance by performing conditions or acceptance by receiving consideration.

8. An action without the knowledge of the proposal is no acceptance

Without the knowledge of the proposal,even if the action conforms to the conditions of the proposal,it does not constitute an acceptance.Acceptance can be given only by the person to whom the proposal is made.

9. Acceptance can only be given by the person to whom the offer is made

This  is true of a specific proposal which  can only be accepted by the person to whom it is made.

10. Acceptance must be made before the lapse or withdrawal of an offer.

If the person making the offer has set a time limit for its acceptance,the offer must be accepted within that time.

Difference between Fraud and Misrepresentation
diff._001
Difference between Coercion and Undue influence
diff._undue_001

Scroll to top
You cannot copy content of this page. The content on this website is NOT for redistribution