Negotiation Rules

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1. Initiating Negotiation

1.1. Any of the parties may initiate negotiation through JustAct.

1.2. To initiate the process of negotiation, the prerequisites are:

1.2.1. Claimant is registered with JustAct

1.2.2. Claimant submits a claim with JustAct with contact details of respondent.

1.2.3. With these details, JustAct intimates the respondent of the case filed and asks the respondent to respond to the claim.

1.2.4. Respondent must register with JustAct before responding to the claim made by the claimant

1.2.5. Both parties agree to Negotiation as a mode of dispute resolution without prejudice to any legal proceedings pending between parties

1.2.6. Proofs in support of the claim or reply-to-claim should be adequate

1.2.7. The respondent may also reject the claim completely in which case the parties may choose to escalate the dispute to mediation or arbitration.

2. Representation

2.1. It is expected that Negotiation is resorted to for disputes that are quantifiable and hence amenable to resolution by this mode

2.2. The parties will negotiate themselves and it is not expected for the parties to be represented by a counsel / other representative except for genuine reasons such as disability / age / medical condition(s).

3. Support for Resolution

To handle resolution on an end-to-end basis, JustAct will assign a Case Manager for the dispute. The Case Manager will provide all support for resolution including resolving queries and coordination for faster dispute resolution.

4. Conduct of Negotiation

4.1. JustAct facilitates the negotiation by use of claim and reply-to-claim values to start with.

4.2. In subsequent rounds of negotiation, both parties modify their numbers. The claimant is allowed to only reduce the amount and the respondent is allowed only to increase the amount offered.

4.3. At any point during the process of negotiation, if both parties agree at the same amount(s), the settlement is deemed to have been achieved and the Case Manager progresses the case to the agreement phase.

5. Role of Parties

The parties agree to attend the negotiation sessions with the objective to reach a meaningful settlement to the dispute and with adequate effort and preparation in this regard.

6. Fees for negotiation

Fees will be as per the Fee Schedule specified by JustAct as may be amended from time to time.

7. Settlement Agreement

The Case Manager will prepare a settlement agreement when the parties reach an agreement (ref clause 4.3). The settlement agreement will be generated and signed off by the parties and authenticated by a Conciliator and issued on payment of the requisite fees.

8. Termination of Negotiation

The proceedings will terminate in any of the following cases:

8.1. a settlement agreement is reached between the two parties on some or all the issues under dispute

8.2. the parties are unable to come to an agreement in the designated number of rounds (The parties are free to escalate the case to mediation or arbitration through JustAct on an immediate basis).

8.3. any of the parties withdrawing from the negotiation proceedings

9. Confidentiality

The parties and their agents, the conciliator and JustAct and its employees shall keep confidential and shall not rely on or introduce as evidence in arbitral, judicial or any other proceeding, the following, whether or not such proceedings relate to the dispute that is the subject of the negotiation :

9.1. The mode chosen by the Party for resolution.

9.2. Any bids or counteroffers made by any of the parties.

9.3. Whether or not a Party had indicated willingness to accept the bid / offer for settlement made during the negotiation.

9.4. All proceedings in the negotiation (save for a settlement agreement) will be without prejudice to their legal rights and claims.

10 Exclusion of liability

10.1. Neither JustAct, its employees or any of the products / tools used during the process shall be liable to any of the parties due to any error / act of omission during the conduct of the negotiation.

10.2. Unless required by law, JustAct or its agents / employees shall not be required to testify in any proceedings – judicial or otherwise – with respect to conduct of the negotiation under these rules

11 Amendments to JustAct Negotiation Rules

11.1. JustAct reserves the right to amend these rules from time to time. However, a case once registered will continue to be processed for negotiation under the rules under which it was registered.

11.2. The date, for this purpose will be reckoned to be the date when filing of the claim was done.

11.3. In case of any disputes, the decision of JustAct will be binding in this regard