How Long Does a DIAC Arbitration Take? Time Limits Under Section 29A

The DIAC arbitration time limit, in short

A domestic DIAC arbitration runs on two statutory clocks. Under Section 23(4) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (the Act), the statement of claim and the statement of defence should be completed within 6 months from the day the arbitrator receives written notice of appointment. That's the first. Under Section 29A(1), the award has to be made within 12 months from the date pleadings are completed. The parties can agree to stretch that by up to 6 months (Section 29A(3)). Past that point only a court can extend time, on an application under Section 29A(5), and only for sufficient cause.

The DIAC (Arbitration Proceedings) Rules, 2023 roll all this into one number. Rule 31.1 says the tribunal must make the award within 18 months from completion of pleadings, or within whatever period the court extends to. Its Explanation makes clear that the 18 months already include the 6-month consensual extension under Section 29A(3). So by signing up to the DIAC Rules, you've agreed to that extension in advance. Most clients don't realise this.

Add it up. Roughly 6 months for pleadings and 18 months for the award, from appointment, before any court extension. That's the legal frame. How long your case really takes is a different question, which we come to below, and it turns mostly on how the parties and the tribunal use their time.

The provisions that set the clock

When does the 12-month clock actually start?

From the date pleadings are completed. Not from your request for arbitration, and not from the day the arbitrator was appointed. That date is often harder to pin down than you'd think. A DIAC file can have a statement of claim, a defence with a counter claim, a reply to the counter claim and sometimes a rejoinder, each filed on a different day. And an application to amend can reopen the whole question.

So get the tribunal to record it. A short procedural order saying pleadings were completed on such-and-such date is all you need. Most DIAC tribunals do this as routine once the last permitted pleading is in. If yours hasn't, ask in writing. A recorded date shuts down later arguments about whether the mandate expired, and it means both sides and the DIAC Coordinator count to the same day.

Keep the two clocks apart in your head. The 6 months in Section 23(4) run from the arbitrator's appointment and govern pleadings. Courts have mostly treated that as a target, not a deadline that ends the mandate, so missing it won't end the arbitration. The 12-month and 18-month periods under Section 29A are another matter. If they lapse with no extension, the arbitrator's mandate terminates until a court extends it.

How long each stage of a DIAC arbitration tends to take

So how long will yours really take?

A tidy DIAC arbitration can produce an award within about 18 months of the request. One claim, a sole arbitrator, parties who stick to dates. Many take two to three years. The DIAC arbitration time limit doesn't make arbitration fast by itself. It creates pressure, and the parties and tribunal either use that pressure or find ways round it. Any estimate we give you is just that. Your case's length depends on how many witnesses there are, whether there's a counter claim, how quickly deposits get paid and how often hearings are adjourned.

Then add time after the award. If the losing side files under Section 34, the award isn't stayed automatically. But enforcement can still stall while the court decides on a stay, often with conditions like a deposit. After that there may be an appeal under Section 37. Our notes on Section 34 challenges to DIAC awards and enforcing a DIAC award cover that stretch.

Against a commercial suit, DIAC usually gets you to an enforceable result sooner when both sides cooperate. When one side is set on delay, not always. Still deciding? See our comparison of DIAC arbitration and a commercial court suit.

Getting more time under Section 29A, step by step

Follow these when the DIAC arbitration time limit for the award is nearly up and the award isn't ready. Don't leave it to the last week.

1. Pin down the exact deadline

   Take the recorded date of completion of pleadings, add 18 months under DIAC Rule 31.1, then add any period a challenge to the arbitrator was pending (Rule 10.5). Write that date on every hearing note. And check it against the DIAC Coordinator's record.

2. Decide early if you'll need the court

   Three or four months before the deadline, look at where things stand. Evidence or arguments still unfinished? You'll need an extension. Raise it with the other side and the tribunal at the next hearing. A joint application is easier, though either party can apply on its own.

3. File the Section 29A(5) application in the right court

   It goes to the court defined in Section 2(1)(e) of the Act. For a Delhi-seated commercial arbitration, that's the District Judge (Commercial Court) up to Rs 2 crore, or the Commercial Division of the Delhi High Court above that (check the current limit). In Jagdeep Chowgule v. Sheela Chowgule (2026) the Supreme Court held this applies even when the High Court appointed the arbitrator under Section 11.

4. Explain the delay, with papers

   Lay out the timeline: appointment, completion of pleadings, hearings held, every adjournment and who asked for it, and what's left. Attach the procedural orders. Extension is granted only for sufficient cause, so an honest, dated account of what happened is what persuades the court. Vague statements don't.

5. Keep going while the application is pending

   Under the second proviso to Section 29A(4), the arbitrator's mandate continues while the application is pending. Use that time. Don't stop hearings to wait for the court.

6. Deal with whatever conditions the court sets

   The court can extend time for a fixed period, impose costs, reduce the arbitrator's fee where the tribunal caused the delay, or, rarely, substitute the arbitrator. Note the new deadline. Plan to finish well inside it.

Section 29A(9) asks the court to try to decide within 60 days of notice to the other side. Delhi courts generally list these quickly, since an arbitration is sitting idle.

Which court gives a DIAC arbitration more time?

For some years nobody was quite sure whether the extension application went to the High Court that appointed the arbitrator under Section 11 or to the ordinary court of original jurisdiction. In Jagdeep Chowgule v. Sheela Chowgule (2026), decided on 29 January 2026, the Supreme Court settled it. The 'court' for Section 29A is the court defined in Section 2(1)(e), which means the principal civil court of original jurisdiction, or the High Court where it has ordinary original civil jurisdiction. Not the referral court as such.

For a commercial dispute seated in Delhi, that means the District Judge's Commercial Court for the district with jurisdiction (Saket, Tis Hazari, Karkardooma and so on) where the value is up to Rs 2 crore. Above Rs 2 crore, it's the Commercial Division of the Delhi High Court. Section 10 of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 sends these applications in commercial-value arbitrations to the commercial forum. There's been a proposal since late 2025 to raise the Delhi district court limit. Check where it stands before you file. Our page on which commercial court will hear your case explains the value and territory rules.

If the seat is outside Delhi, say Noida, Ghaziabad or Gurugram, the application goes to the Commercial Court designated for that district, or to that state's High Court where value and its original jurisdiction allow. DIAC administering the case doesn't make the Delhi High Court the right forum. People get this wrong.

What if the deadline has already gone?

It's not the end. In Rohan Builders (India) Pvt Ltd v. Berger Paints India Ltd (2024), the Supreme Court held that a Section 29A(5) application can be filed even after the 12 or 18 months have run out. The mandate ends only if the court doesn't extend time. You'll still have to show sufficient cause, though, and if you sat on it without explanation, that counts against you.

C. Velusamy v. K. Indhera (2026) went further. The Supreme Court held that an award made after the mandate lapsed isn't void if the court later extends time. Without that extension, the award is exposed and you can't safely enforce it. Holding an award made after the deadline? An application to regularise the period is usually the first thing we'd look at.

Either way, the lesson doesn't change. A missed deadline turns a running arbitration into a court application. It costs money. And it hands the other side an argument it didn't have. Put the date in the diary and apply early.

DIAC's own check: scrutiny of the draft award

DIAC adds a step most parties have never heard of. Under Rule 31.1, at least 45 days before the award period runs out, the tribunal has to send its draft award to the DIAC Coordinator for scrutiny by a committee set up for that purpose. Any suggestions are to be sent back within a month. The tribunal is still free to decide what, if anything, to change. The scrutiny looks at form and points that need attention. It doesn't decide who wins.

In practice, the tribunal's real deadline is earlier than the formal one. If arguments finish close to the 18-month mark, there may not be time for drafting, scrutiny and signing before the period ends. Plan for it. Finish arguments several months before the outer date, or seek an extension in good time.

Where the months go, and how to claw some back

• Fee deposits. Until DIAC's deposits are paid, nothing moves. If the other side won't pay its share, you can pay it to keep the case alive or ask for separate assessment. See what to do when the other side won't pay DIAC fees.
• Late pleadings. Push for firm dates at the first procedural meeting, and object on record every time another extension is sought. Rules 16.2 and 17.2 let the tribunal terminate claims or close the defence when deadlines are missed.
• Too many witnesses. Five people from the same accounts department saying the same thing will cost you months. File evidence affidavits early and keep oral evidence for the people who genuinely add something.
• Fights over documents. Agree an admitted bundle of invoices, emails and ledgers. Keep the arguments about whether something is genuine to the few documents that really matter.
• Adjournments. Fix several dates in advance, including back-to-back days for evidence. Ask the tribunal to note who sought each adjournment. That record counts when costs are decided under Section 31A and when an extension is sought.
• Challenges to the arbitrator. A challenge stops the clock under Rule 10.5. If your objection is genuine, raise it within 14 days. Tactical challenges late in the case mostly just add delay and cost.

For respondents: delay won't save you

Some respondents assume that dragging things out always helps. In a DIAC arbitration it often doesn't. Interest usually keeps running. Section 31(7) of the Act gives post-award interest at 2 percent above the current rate of interest prevailing on the date of the award, unless the award says otherwise. Under Section 31A the tribunal can order costs against whoever stretched the proceedings. And a late defence or counter claim can be shut out under Rule 17.2.

There's another risk. The tribunal runs short of time and the court extends it, with conditions. Courts hearing Section 29A applications look hard at who caused the delay. If your adjournment requests fill the order sheets, expect that record to be read back to you. Got a real defence? Put it in on time. Our note on defending a DIAC arbitration explains how.

Quicker routes: fast track, emergency relief and settlement

Where the dispute is mostly about paper (unpaid GST invoices, a deposit that wasn't refunded, a fixed contract price) the fast track procedure under Section 29B and Rules 12 and 13 of the DIAC Rules can get you an award within 6 months of the tribunal entering upon the reference. Both sides have to agree in writing and give up oral evidence. Our note on fast track arbitration at DIAC explains when it fits.

Urgent protection is a separate matter. An emergency arbitrator under Rule 14 has to decide within 14 days of appointment, and once the tribunal is formed it can grant interim measures under Section 17, whatever the award deadline. A registered micro or small supplier also has the MSME Facilitation Council, which runs its own clock. Section 18(5) of the MSMED Act, 2006 says a reference is to be decided within 90 days. In practice it usually takes longer. And you can settle at any stage and record a consent award under Section 30.

Dates and papers to keep track of in every DIAC arbitration

• The day the respondent received your notice or request for arbitration (that's commencement under Section 21)
• The date of DIAC's notice of the arbitrator's appointment, because the 6-month pleadings period starts there
• The date each pleading went in, plus the procedural order recording that pleadings are complete
• Any stretch of time when a challenge to the arbitrator was pending
• Your 12-month and 18-month dates, counted from completion of pleadings
• Any consent extension in writing, and any court order under Section 29A
• A running record of which fee deposits were called and who actually paid them
• Order sheets that show who asked for each adjournment
• The day you received the signed award (the Section 34 period runs from there)

How timing differs for suppliers, startups, lenders and large companies

A supplier chasing invoices cares about the day the money arrives, not the day the award is signed. For them, interim measures to secure the amount, a short witness list and, where it's possible, fast track save the most time. MSMEs should also look at the Council route in our note on DIAC or the MSME Council.

Startups tend to underestimate the time a case takes inside the company. Somebody has to pull out two years of emails, prepare witnesses and sign off on deposits. Lenders and NBFCs with lots of similar claims should standardise their documents so pleadings close early. Large companies and public sector bodies often lose months waiting for internal approval of fee deposits or consent extensions. Get standing approvals when the case starts.

The clock is the same whether the parties sit in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh or Haryana. It comes from the Act and the DIAC Rules. What changes is the court for an extension, which follows seat and value, and the court for enforcement, which follows the assets. When time-limit problems reach Advocate B.K. Singh, the trouble is rarely the law. It's usually a date nobody wrote down. That's why the first job on a new file is often a dated chronology.

What you can do this week

If your DIAC arbitration is already under way, find the order recording completion of pleadings and work out the 18-month date. Add any period a challenge was pending. No such order? Write to the tribunal and ask it to record the date. If the deadline is within four months and you're nowhere near arguments, start on the Section 29A application now.

If you're only about to start, decide whether fast track suits your dispute and keep the witness list tight. Our DIAC arbitration page describes how a case runs from notice to award. If you want the dates in your arbitration checked, or an extension application looked at before the mandate runs out, send the procedural orders to Advocate B.K. Singh's team through the contact page.