2. What are the rules regarding the acceptance of a proposal?

Describe them in
details.
Ans. Offer and acceptance analysis is a traditional approach in contract law used to
determine whether an agreement exists between two parties. As a contract is an
agreement, an offer is an indication by one person (the "offeror") to another (the
"offeree") of the offeror's willingness to enter into a contract on certain terms without
further negotiations. A contract is said to come into existence when acceptance of an
offer (agreement to the terms in it) has been communicated to the offeror by the
offeree.

Test of acceptance

Acceptance is a final and unqualified expression of assent to the terms of an offer.[11] It is

no defense to an action based on a contract for the defendant to claim that he never
intended to be bound by theent. This manifestation of assent theory of contract formation
may be contrasted with older theories, in which it was sometimes argued that a contract
required the parties to have a true meeting of the minds between the parties. Under
theilure of Contract to Die After All" (2000) 18 Journal of Contract Law 1.</ref>

This requirement of an objective perspective is important in cases where a party claims

that an offer was not accepted, taking advantage of the performance of the other party.
Here, we can apply the test of whether a reasonable bystander (a "fly on the wall") would
have perceived that the party has impliedly accepted the offer by conduct.

Rules of acceptance

• The acceptance must be communicated: The party accepting the offer must
communicate his acceptance to the offerer. Acceptance is not a mental resolve but
some external manifestation
• An exception exists in the case of unilateral contracts, in which the offeror
makes an offer to the world which can be accepted by some act. A classic instance
of this is the case of Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. [1892] 2 Q.B. 484 in
which an offer was made to pay £100 to anyone who having bought the offeror's
product and used it in accordance with the instructions nonetheless contracted
influenza. The plaintiff did so and the court ordered payment of the £100. Her
actions accepted the offer - there was no need to communicate acceptance.
Typical cases of unilateral offers are advertisements of rewards (e.g., for the
return of a lost dog).
• An offer can only be accepted by the offeree, that is, the person to whom the
offer is made. In case it is accepted by any other person no aggreement is formed.
• Acceptance should be unconditional and absolute: Sec. 7 (I) states that the
acceptance should be absolute and unconditional. The accepter should accept the
offer in toto. If it is qualified or conditional, it ceases to be valid.
• Acceptance should be according to the prescribed form: Unless specified in
the oofer the acceptance must be in some usual and reasonable manner. The
proposer has the right to prescribe the manner of acceptance. He may require it to
be in oral or writing or to be communicated to him by phone etc.
• Acceptance must be provoked by the offer: The acceptor must be aware of the
offer. Even if he fulfills the conditions mentioned in the offer, if he is ignorant of
the offer itself, he can’t give a valid acceptance
• Acceptance must be given before the offer lapses or is revoked: Where a time
limit has been fixed the acceptor has to accept the offer within such time. Where
no time limit is prescribed the acceptance has to be within the reasonable time.
• Provisional acceptance is no acceptance: Aprovisional acceptance doesnot
make a binding agreement unless final approval is given. The offer may be
withdrwan before giving the final approval.
• An offeree is not usually bound if another person accepts the offer on his behalf
without his authorisation, the exceptions to which are found in the law of agency,
where an agent may have apparent or ostensible authority, or the usual authority
of an agent in the particular market, even if the principal did not realise what the
extent of this authority was, and someone on whose behalf an offer has been
purportedly accepted it may also ratify the contract within a reasonable time,
binding both parties.
• It may be implied from the construction of the contract that the offeror has
dispensed with the requirement of communication of acceptance (called waiver of
communication - which is generally implied in unilateral contracts
• If the offer specifies a method of acceptance (such as by post or fax), acceptance
must be by a method that is no less effective from the offeror's point of view than
the method specified. The exact method prescribed may have to be used in some
cases but probably only where the offeror has used very explicit words such as
"by registered post, and by that method onlySilence cannot be construed as
acceptance:
• However, acceptance may be inferred from conduct, Correspondence with offer