Why delivery matters
An award can be set aside if a party was not given proper notice. So every notice goes out on several channels, every attempt is tracked separately, and the evidence is kept in a form that can be shown to a court.
A delivery is one notice, to one respondent, on one channel. A case with three respondents and four channels has twelve deliveries for each notice, each with its own status and evidence.
The notices
| Code | Notice | Sent in the name of | Channels by default |
|---|---|---|---|
| N01 | S.21 notice invoking arbitration | The administrator, for the client (on the client’s letterhead) | WhatsApp, email, SMS; posted by the client |
| N02 | Commencement of arbitration | The administrator | WhatsApp, email, SMS; never posted. Carries the respondent’s Access ID and PIN |
| N07 | Service of the statement of claim | The tribunal | The firm’s standard channels; any post by the administrator |
| N09 | Final notice before an award on the documents | The tribunal | All four channels; posted by the administrator |
| N10 | Interim relief notice | The tribunal | The firm’s standard channels; any post by the administrator |
| N11 | Notice of a video hearing | The tribunal | The firm’s standard channels; any post by the administrator |
| N13 | Order of the tribunal | The tribunal | The firm’s standard channels; any post by the administrator |
| N14 | Procedural order notice | The tribunal | The firm’s standard channels; any post by the administrator |
| N17 | Closure of proceedings (settlement or withdrawal) | The tribunal | The firm’s standard channels; any post by the administrator |
| — | Signed award | The tribunal | Electronic channels and always by post |
The administrator sets the channels for each kind of notice; the table shows the defaults. The S.21 notice is the only one the client posts; when the administrator posts a notice, it prints and books the letters itself. A notice is generated only when every field in it has a value; a missing detail stops it and goes back as a question, so no notice is sent with a blank.
Each notice is approved by a person before it is sent. The S.21 notice is approved by the client’s authorised signatory.
SMS will be used once an SMS provider is in place. Until then, SMS deliveries show as not available and the other channels carry the notice.
Languages
A notice can carry more than one language in the same PDF. The commencement notice is in English and Marathi; the S.21 notice is in English. The respondent portal is in English, Hindi and Marathi.
Delivery statuses
WhatsApp, email and SMS
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Planned, queued | Waiting to go, for example until contact hours. |
| Submitted, sent | Handed to the provider, and sent on by it. |
| Delivered | The provider reports it reached the phone or mailbox. |
| Read | WhatsApp reports the message was opened. |
| Failed, expired | It could not be delivered, or no result came back in time. |
| Not available | The channel could not be used: no number, no consent, or no provider. |
Post
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Planned, printed, handed over | The letter is prepared and given to the postal service. |
| In transit, out for delivery | From postal tracking. |
| Delivered | With the signed acknowledgement card. |
| Refused | The addressee refused to accept it. |
| Returned, lost | Returned with a postal remark, or lost in the post. |
Where the client posts the S.21 notice, its reports (booked, delivered, refused, returned, with scans) count only after a case manager accepts them.
When a notice counts as served
A service rule, set by the administrator under legal advice, decides which results count as service. By default a notice is served on a respondent when a posted copy is delivered or refused; delivered and read electronic messages are recorded as further evidence. The rule in force, and its version, are printed on every proof of service.
When a channel fails
- If the electronic channels have not delivered within 48 hours, and the notice is one the administrator posts, it goes by post.
- If post fails too, the case is flagged for a case manager, who can find a new address or contact (often by asking the client) and send again.
- Undelivered letters, wrong numbers and bounced emails all appear as exceptions to be resolved in writing.
Reminders and quiet hours
Reminders to a respondent who has not replied follow a plan set for the case or campaign, sent in the platform’s name, or in the tribunal’s name under the arbitrator’s standing direction. A plan stops as soon as the respondent responds.
Reminders go only between 9 am and 8 pm (India time), Monday to Saturday, and no respondent gets more than 3 in any 7 days.
Proof of service
Each respondent gets a Proof of Service PDF for each notice. It shows:
- the case, the notice and the addressee;
- a SHA-256 fingerprint of the notice PDF and of the data merged into it, so the exact notice can be proved;
- the service rule and its version, and when and on what basis the notice was served (India time);
- a timeline of every attempt on every channel, with the provider’s reference;
- for letters posted by the client, each accepted report and who accepted it.
An evidence pack (a ZIP) holds the notice, the merged data, the channel plan, every attempt, the service decision, the provider’s raw delivery events and the postal scans, with a manifest of fingerprints for every file.
Objecting to a notice
A respondent can object, from the portal, to a notice sent in the administrator’s own name, such as the commencement notice. The S.21 notice is the client’s own notice, so a response to it goes to the client and is recorded with the client’s S.21 responses.