SESSION-5 ACCEPTANCE

Acceptance
S.2(b) defines acceptance as, when the person to whom the proposal is

made signifies his assent thereto, the proposal is said to be accepted. A

proposal, when accepted becomes a promise. Thus, the acceptance is the assent given to a proposal, and it has the

effect of converting the proposal into promise.

Communication by external manifestation or overt act.- it is required that the assent should be signified or expressed, and by any act or omission by which the party accepting intends to communicate his assent or which has the effect of communicating. Fall of the hammer in case of an auction sale is an act amounting to acceptance. In certain circumstances, the oferees silence, coupled with such conduct

as takes the form of a positive act, may constitute an acceptance.

Legal Rules As To Acceptance

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Must be absolute & unqualified: must confirm with the offer Must be communicated: mental determination not sufficient Must be according to the prescribed mode or usual & reasonable mode Must be given within a reasonable time if not specified Cannot precede an offer. not valid . No contract Must show an intention on part of the acceptor to fulfill terms of the promise Must be given by the party or parties to whom the offer is made

CONT
8. Must be given before the offer lapses or before the offer is withdrawn 9. Cannot be implied from silence Offer & acceptance is complete when communicated. When we accept & post a letter duly stamped,& it gets lost the contract is complete Rejection of offer-express-notice reaches the offeror Implied-counter offer&conditional acceptance

Acceptance By Conduct
Acceptance by conduct is action in terms of the offer. Cases of unilateral promises / general offers, demand some act in return for the promise to pay.

S.8. provides that, performance of the conditions of a proposal, of the acceptance of

any consideration for a reciprocal promise which may be offered with a proposal, is an acceptance of the proposal. Such proposals demand acceptance by performance.

Communication to offeror:
Acceptance must be communicated to the offeror himself. A communication to any other person is as ineffectual as if no communication has been made.

An offeror cannot impose upon the offree the burden of refusal.

Communication From Acceptor

The communication of acceptance should be from a person who has the authority to accept. Information received from an unauthorized person is ineffective. Powel v. Lee (1908): the plaintiff was applicant to the headmastership of a school. When communication not necessary:

When the offeror prescribes a particular mode of acceptance, then all

that the acceptor has to do is to follow that mode. There may be an offer which impliedly indicates that acting on its terms will be a sufficient acceptance. Announcement to pay reward for discovering a lost thing is an offer of this kind.
6

Mode of Communication
Acceptance should be in prescribed manner: acceptance has to be made in the manner prescribed or indicated by the offerer, any other manner may not be effective, particularly where the offerer clearly insists that the acceptance shall be made in the prescribed manner. Elliason v. Henshaw (1819): A offered to buy flour from B requesting that an acceptance should be set by the wagon which brought the offer. A minor departure from the prescribed mode of communication should not upset the fact of acceptance provided that the communication is made in an equally expeditious way. This Anglo American rule has not been strictly followed in the Indian Contract Act. S.7 deals with this matter.
7

Revocation Of Acceptance
According to English law an acceptance once made is irrevocable. In India, on the other hand, acceptance is generally revocable. An acceptor

may cancel his acceptance by a speedier mode of communication which

will reach earlier that the acceptance itself. Section 5 states the relevancy. The case if both acceptance and revocation of acceptance reach together,

as per illustration of S.5, the acceptance will be deemed to have been

revoked. Countess of Dunmore v. Alexander (1830): a proposal of service made by a letter sent through agent. Offer and revocation received at the same time.

Contract Over Telephone

It has the same effect as any other ordinary agreement discussed so far. But the offeree must make sure that his acceptance is properly received, heard and understood by the offeror. Eg1-A makes an offer to B and at the same time a train/car passes and an important word is not audible there is no contract until he has reconfirmed what he had said. Eg2-(Entores Vs Miles )Far East Corporation (1955) say A makes an offer to B over a telephoneand the line goes dead in between so that A doesn't hear Bs word ofacceptance. There is no contract at that point. He may not though knowwhen actually the line went dead but since he doesnt conclude off so he must reconfirm by calling back. [The principle of the Entores case wasendorsed by the Supreme Court in Bhagwan Dass Kedia Vs Girdharilal,AIR(1966)