Mediated Settlement Agreement

Legal status in India

Section 19 of the Mediation Act, 2023 defines a mediated settlement agreement, and Section 27 will make an authenticated agreement enforceable under the Code of Civil Procedure as if it were a court decree. Those sections have not yet commenced. Today, an MSA is enforceable as a contract under the Indian Contract Act, 1872, and gains decree-like force only when recorded through an existing route — a court's consent decree (Order XXIII Rule 3, Code of Civil Procedure), a Lok Adalat award (Section 21, Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987), or a settlement with the status of an arbitral award, such as conciliation under Section 74 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 or pre-institution mediation under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.

What an MSA must contain

No mandatory form is prescribed by the Act, but a properly drafted MSA should include:

• The names and descriptions of all parties
• A recital of the dispute that was mediated
• The precise terms of settlement (payment amounts, deadlines, deliverables, or behavioural obligations)
• Any conditions precedent to the agreement taking effect
• The signature of all parties (or their authorised representatives) and the mediator
• The date of signing

Vague or aspirational language — "the parties will cooperate in good faith" without specifying what that requires — creates the same enforcement problems in an MSA as in any other contract.

See what happens after you settle and whether ADR outcomes are binding.