Cabinet nod to ordinance tweaking arbitration law

The Cabinet on Monday approved an ordinance to amend various provisions in the law on arbitration.

One is to make India  the preferred venue of arbitration. Many foreign companies in a dispute with the government — an example is of Vodafone  — have preferred to go  outside India for arbitration.

The ordinance will amend the  Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996, to ensure speedy disposal of cases,  official sources said. It provides for an arbitrator charging composite fees for disposal of cases and not on the basis of each sitting or each hearing, as is the practice.

The ordinance also provides for the arbitration tribunal making its award within nine months.

Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had wondered why investors repeatedly opted for arbitration outside India. “Is it because our domestic systems have a tendency to interfere too much even in the domestic tribunals which are created for the purpose of dispute resolution?” he asked.