Indian Contract Act Section 4 — Communication when complete

CHAPTER I OF THE COMMUNICATION, ACCEPTANCE AND REVOCATION OF PROPOSALS

Commercial / Corporate

Summary

A proposal is considered communicated only when the person it is meant for actually learns about it.

The communication of an acceptance is complete at two different points. Against the person who made the proposal, it is complete as soon as the acceptance is sent off in a way that the acceptor can no longer take it back. Against the person accepting the proposal, it is complete only when the proposer actually comes to know about the acceptance.

The communication of a revocation, meaning the withdrawal of a proposal or acceptance, is also complete at two different points. Against the person who is making the revocation, it is complete as soon as it is sent off in a way that they cannot take it back. Against the person to whom the revocation is sent, it is complete only when that person actually learns about it.

Official Text

The communication of a proposal is complete when it comes to the knowledge of the person to whom it is made. The communication of an acceptance is complete,— as against the proposer, when it is put in a course of transmission to him, so as to be out of the power of the acceptor; as against the acceptor, when it comes to the knowledge of the proposer. The communication of a revocation is complete,— as against the person who makes it, when it is put into a course of transmission to the person to whom it is made, so as to be out of the power of the person who makes it; as against the person to whom it is made, when it comes to his knowledge. Illustrations