The Mediation Act 2023: The Whole Scheme, and How Much of It Is Actually in Force

Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2423, answered 13 February 2026, by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice. After reciting that "As provided under section 1(3) of the Mediation Act, 2023, some provisions of the Act have been notified vide gazette notification dated 09.10.2023", and that three sets of Mediation Council of India rules were notified on 13 June 2024, the answer states:

The Chairperson and other Members of the Mediation Council of India are yet to be appointed.

and, of the provisions on mediation service providers, mediation institutes, community mediation and online mediation:

These provisions however have not been notified and the Mediation Council of India is yet to be established.

Read those two sentences together and the position is complete: the law establishing the Council is in force, the rules for its members have been made, and neither the Council nor its members exist.

Compare chapter 440. The Arbitration Council of India is in exactly the same position: Part IA in force since 12 October 2023, and the Government telling the Lok Sabha on 6 February 2026 that the Council "has not been constituted as yet." Two Acts, two councils, the same gap between the statute book and the institution. That parallel is worth drawing in any answer about the state of ADR in India.

The scheme Parliament enacted

Teach the Act in full, because MU's topic is "Mediation" and a student may be asked what the statute provides. State the scheme, then state what is in force.

Section 2, application. The Act applies where mediation is conducted in India and all or both parties habitually reside in, are incorporated in or have their place of business in India; or the mediation agreement provides for resolution under the Act; or there is an international mediation; or one party is the Central or a State Government or a public body and the matter is a commercial dispute; or in any other kind of dispute notified by a Government where such a body is a party.

Section 3, definitions. Including "commercial dispute" by reference to the Commercial Courts Act 2015, "community mediator", and the definition of mediation itself, which chapter 590 uses.

Section 4, mediation agreement. In writing, by or between the parties, and it may be a clause in a contract or a separate agreement.

Section 5, pre-litigation mediation. Whether or not a mediation agreement exists, the parties may, before filing any suit or proceeding of a civil or commercial nature, voluntarily and with mutual consent take steps to settle by pre-litigation mediation. A proviso preserves section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act for commercial disputes of Specified Value, which is chapter 610.

Note the word voluntarily. As enacted, section 5 is not a compulsory pre-litigation requirement; the Bill's earlier versions were, and Parliament changed it. So even if it were in force, it would not do what section 12A does.

Sub-section (3) says who may conduct it: a mediator registered with the Council, or empanelled by a court-annexed mediation centre, or empanelled by an Authority under the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987, or empanelled by a recognised mediation service provider.

Section 6, disputes not fit for mediation. No mediation for a dispute in the indicative list in the First Schedule. A proviso lets a court refer compoundable offences, including compoundable matrimonial offences, to mediation; a second proviso provides that the outcome of such a mediation shall not be deemed a judgment or decree under section 27(2) and shall be further considered by the court. The Central Government may amend the First Schedule by notification.

Section 7, reference by a court or tribunal. Notwithstanding the non-settlement of a dispute under section 5(1), a court or tribunal may at any stage of a proceeding refer the parties to undertake mediation, may pass a suitable interim order to protect a party's interest, and the parties are under no obligation to come to a settlement.

Sections 8 to 17, the mediator. Appointment, including that a person of any nationality may be a mediator; the parties' preference; conflict of interest and disclosure; termination and replacement; territorial jurisdiction; commencement; conduct; and the mediator's role, including that he shall not act as an arbitrator or as a representative or counsel, or be presented as a witness, in later proceedings.

Section 18, time limit. Mediation shall be completed within one hundred and twenty days from the date fixed for the first appearance before the mediator, extendable by agreement of the parties by not more than sixty days.

Section 19, mediated settlement agreement. An agreement in writing between some or all of the parties resulting from mediation, settling some or all of the disputes, and authenticated by the mediator; its terms may extend beyond the disputes referred.

Sections 20 to 25. Registration of the settlement; the non-settlement report; confidentiality; admissibility and privilege against disclosure; termination; and costs.

Section 26. Proceedings of Lok Adalat and Permanent Lok Adalat not to be affected. This section is in force, and it is the Act's acknowledgement that the Legal Services Authorities machinery of Module I continues untouched.

Section 27, enforcement. A mediated settlement agreement signed by the parties and authenticated by the mediator shall be final and binding on the parties and persons claiming under them, and, subject to section 28, enforced in accordance with the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 in the same manner as if it were a judgment or decree passed by a court, and may be relied on by way of defence, set off or otherwise.

Notice how much stronger that is than section 74 of the 1996 Act, chapter 570. A conciliation settlement takes the status of an arbitral award on agreed terms; a mediated settlement under section 27 would be enforced as a judgment or decree of a court directly. And section 27 is not in force.

Section 28, challenge. A mediated settlement agreement may be challenged only on the grounds of fraud, corruption, impersonation, or that the mediation was conducted in a dispute not fit for mediation under section 6, by application to the court or tribunal of competent jurisdiction, within ninety days.

Sections 29 and 30. Limitation, and online mediation.

Sections 31 to 38, the Mediation Council of India. Establishment and incorporation; composition, a seven-member body under section 32; vacancies; resignation; removal; experts and committees; the secretariat and Chief Executive Officer; and duties and functions. All in force.

Sections 39 to 44. Monitoring and reporting; mediation service providers; their functions; mediation institutes; and community mediation, with its own procedure.

Sections 45 to 57. The Mediation Fund; accounts and audit; the Central Government's power to issue directions; schemes; settlements where a Government or its agency is a party; good faith protection; rules; regulations; laying; removal of difficulties; and the transitional provision.

Sections 58 to 65. Consequential amendments to other Acts, including the Indian Contract Act 1872, the Code of Civil Procedure 1908, the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987, the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act 2006, the Companies Act 2013, the Commercial Courts Act 2015 and the Consumer Protection Act 2019. Not in force, so those Acts stand unamended by this one.

What a student should therefore say

Write the answer in three layers and it will be right whatever the examiner is testing.

One, the scheme. India's first standalone mediation statute, enacted in 2023, providing for mediation agreements, voluntary pre-litigation mediation, court references, the conduct of mediation, a one hundred and twenty day time limit, a mediated settlement agreement enforceable as a decree, a narrow ninety-day challenge on four grounds, online and community mediation, and a Mediation Council of India.

Two, the commencement. Only sections 1, 3, 26, 31 to 38, 45 to 47, 50 to 54 and 56 to 57 were brought into force, by S.O. 4384(E) of 9 October 2023. Sections 4 to 25 and 27 to 30 are not in force.

Three, the consequence. Mediation in India today runs on section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure, chapter 600, on section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act 2015, chapter 610, on Part III conciliation of the 1996 Act, chapters 550 to 580, and on the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 machinery, Module I. The Mediation Act supplies the vocabulary and the future framework, and, so far, the Council that has not been constituted.

A worked example

Two companies want to mediate a contract dispute in 2026. There is a mediation clause in their contract.

Does the Mediation Act govern it? Its section 4, on mediation agreements, is not in force, and nor are sections 5 to 25. So the Act does not supply the machinery.

Can they mediate anyway? Of course. Parties may agree to mediate at any time; what the Act would have added is a statutory framework and a directly enforceable settlement.

How do they make the outcome binding? Not under section 27, which is not in force. The routes available are: conduct it as a conciliation under Part III of the 1996 Act, so that a signed settlement takes the status of an award on agreed terms under section 74; or, if a suit is pending, obtain a reference under section 89 and, if it goes to a Lok Adalat, an award deemed a decree under section 21 of the Legal Services Authorities Act; or, for a commercial dispute of Specified Value, use section 12A, whose settlement takes the section 30(4) status.

Could they insist on pre-litigation mediation before the other sued? Not under section 5, which is not in force and which is in any event voluntary as enacted. Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act is the only compulsory route, and it applies only to commercial disputes of Specified Value with no urgent interim relief.

What if the mediator turns out to have been bribed? Under the Mediation Act that would be a section 28 ground of challenge, within ninety days. As that section is not in force, the settlement is attacked on ordinary principles, or, if it was recorded as a conciliation settlement, through the routes that attach to an award.

What beginners get wrong

The Mediation Act 2023 is not fully in force, and the part that is missing is the mediation itself.

Section 5 is not compulsory pre-litigation mediation. Even as enacted it is voluntary and with mutual consent, and it preserves section 12A for commercial disputes.

The Mediation Council of India does not exist, on the Government's own statement of 13 February 2026, although sections 31 to 38 are in force.

Section 27 would have been stronger than section 74. It enforces the settlement as a judgment or decree of a court, not as an arbitral award on agreed terms.

The consequential amendments in sections 58 to 65 have not taken effect, so the other Acts stand as they were.

Quick revision

• Mediation Act 2023, Act 32 of 2023, assent 14 September 2023.
• In force by S.O. 4384(E) of 9 October 2023: ss.1, 3, 26, 31 to 38, 45 to 47, 50 to 54, 56 and 57.
• Not in force: ss.4 to 25 and 27 to 30, and ss.39 to 44, 48, 49, 55 and 58 to 65.
• Section 5: pre-litigation mediation is voluntary and with mutual consent, preserving section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act.
• Section 6: no mediation for disputes in the First Schedule; a court may refer compoundable offences including matrimonial ones, but the outcome is not deemed a judgment or decree.
• Section 7: a court or tribunal may refer at any stage, may pass an interim order, and the parties are under no obligation to settle.
• Section 18: one hundred and twenty days from the first appearance, extendable by sixty by agreement.
• Section 27: a settlement signed by the parties and authenticated by the mediator is final and binding and enforced as if it were a judgment or decree of a court.
• Section 28: challenge only for fraud, corruption, impersonation, or a section 6 dispute, within ninety days.
• Lok Sabha USQ 2423, 13 February 2026: the Chairperson and Members of the Mediation Council are yet to be appointed and the Council is yet to be established.

Test yourself

1. Is the Mediation Act 2023 in force? Partly. By notification S.O. 4384(E) dated 9 October 2023, sections 1, 3, 26, 31 to 38, 45 to 47, 50 to 54 and 56 to 57 were brought into force under section 1(3). Sections 4 to 25 and 27 to 30, which contain the mediation machinery itself, are not in force.

2. Does section 5 make pre-litigation mediation compulsory? No. As enacted it provides that the parties may voluntarily and with mutual consent take steps to settle by pre-litigation mediation before filing a suit, and a proviso preserves section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act 2015 for commercial disputes of Specified Value. In any event section 5 is not in force.

3. How would a mediated settlement have been enforced under section 27? As final and binding on the parties and persons claiming under them, and, subject to section 28, enforced in accordance with the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 in the same manner as if it were a judgment or decree passed by a court, and relied on by way of defence, set off or otherwise.

4. On what grounds may a mediated settlement agreement be challenged under section 28? Only on fraud, corruption, impersonation, or that the mediation was conducted in a dispute or matter not fit for mediation under section 6, by application within ninety days.

5. Does the Mediation Council of India exist? No. Sections 31 to 38 establishing it are in force and three sets of rules were notified on 13 June 2024, but the Government told the Lok Sabha on 13 February 2026 that the Chairperson and other Members are yet to be appointed and that the Council is yet to be established.