One Time Settlement of Contractual Disputes

The "Vivad se Vishwas II (Contractual Disputes)" is a one-time settlement scheme at the Appellate Stage to effectively settle pending disputes where the award by court/ Arbitral Tribunal (AT) is only for monetary value where one of the parties is either the Government of India or a any of the following bodies;

a) to all Autonomous Bodies of the Government of India;

b) to public sector banks and public sector financial institutions;

c) to all Central Public Sector Enterprises;

d) to Union Territories without legislature and all agencies/ undertakings thereof; and

e) to all organisations, like Metro Rail Corporations, where Government of India has

shareholding of 50%; however, these organisations can opt out of the scheme at

their discretion, with approval of the Board of Directors.

The Scheme applies to Court Decrees upto 30.04.2023 and Arbitral Awards upto 31.01.2023. The date of commencement of the scheme shall be 15.07.2023 and claims can be submitted by 31.10.2023.

Claims are required to be submitted through the Government e-Marketplace through a dedicated link created for the implementation of the Scheme. In case of Ministry of railways, the claims shall be registered on the IREPS portal www.ireps.gov.in.

The Scheme applies mandatorily to claims upto Rs. 500 Crores and is optional in case of claims exceeding Rs.500 Crores. The Settlement under the Scheme shall be full and final settlement and a Settlement Agreement shall be executed under section 73(2) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

The scheme shall apply only for cases involving domestic arbitration and cases under international arbitration are not eligible to be settled under this scheme.

The Mediation Bill, 2021 provides that the mediation mechanism provided in the said Bill shall not apply to apply wherein one of the parties to the dispute is the Central Government or a State Government, or agencies, public bodies, corporations and local bodies, including entities controlled or owned by such Government, except where the matter pertains to a commercial dispute.