Key takeaways

• On October 23, 2015, the President of India promulgated the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 (the “Ordinance”) to amend and reform India’s existing arbitration law, the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (the “Act”), by way of certain key amendments (the “Amendments”).
• The Ordinance takes into account the 246th report (and its supplement) of the Law Commission of India which had recommended various amendments to the Act. The Law Commission made several proposals for making arbitration a preferred mode for settlement of commercial disputes in India by making it more user-friendly, cost effective and expeditious.
• The new law looks to introduce an institutional model of arbitration in India, balance between judicial intervention and judicial restraint in arbitration matters, neutrality of arbitrators and provide wide interim powers to arbitrators.