The FEAM Arbitration Clause
A dispute-resolution clause is the switch that routes a future dispute to FEAM. Adopt one of the clauses below into your contracts, agreements, or standard templates — and any dispute that arises is administered under the FEAM Arbitration Rules, with a fixed procedure, a vetted panel, and a published fee schedule. Ten drafted variants cover standard, expedited, MSME, multi-tier, online, and international matters.
From clause to institutional resolution, in four steps
Adopting a FEAM clause takes minutes and needs no prior relationship with FEAM. The clause does the work — it decides, in advance, where a future dispute will go and how it will be run.
Choose the variant
Pick the clause that matches your contract — standard, expedited, sector, or international.
Specify four essentials
State the seat, governing law, language, and number of arbitrators explicitly.
Insert into your agreement
Drop the clause into the dispute-resolution section of your contract or standard template.
Disputes route to FEAM
Any future dispute is administered by FEAM under its Rules — no further step required.
The four things every clause should state
Schedule J asks you to specify four elements in every clause. The FEAM Rules supply a default for each where your contract is silent — but stating them explicitly is what prevents argument once a dispute has already begun.
Where the arbitration is legally anchored
The seat fixes the supervisory court and the law governing the proceedings. Absent agreement, the seat is New Delhi, India, unless the Tribunal determines another Indian seat is more appropriate after consulting the parties.
The law applied to the substance of the dispute
As agreed by the parties. Absent agreement, the Tribunal applies the law it considers most appropriate. The law governing the proceedings themselves (the lex arbitri) is the law of the seat.
The language of the proceedings
As agreed by the parties. Absent agreement, the language is English. In MSME Fast-Track proceedings (Schedule C), Hindi-language proceedings may be facilitated by FEAM on request.
Sole arbitrator or three-member tribunal
As agreed. Absent agreement, by amount in dispute: up to ₹2 crore, one arbitrator; ₹2–10 crore, one or three at FEAM's determination; above ₹10 crore, three unless the parties agree to one. Streamlined, Expedited and MSME tracks are sole-arbitrator only.
Ten model clauses, ready to copy
Each clause below is reproduced from Schedule J of the FEAM Institutional Rules. Tap Copy to lift the exact text, then replace each [●] with your own detail before inserting it into your contract.
Standard clause
Use when: most commercial contracts. The full FEAM Arbitration Rules apply, with the tribunal size scaled to the dispute.
International commercial arbitration
Use when: cross-border contracts with parties of different nationalities. Three-member tribunal; the chair is of a neutral nationality.
Expedited procedure
Use when: disputes up to ₹2 crore, targeting an award within six months, before a sole arbitrator.
Streamlined procedure
Use when: disputes up to ₹50 lakh — documents-only, no oral hearing, roughly 90 days.
MSME fast-track
Use when: MSME disputes up to ₹50 lakh, resolved on a fixed, all-in fee.
Negotiation → mediation → arbitration
Use when: you want an escalation ladder — talk first, mediate next, arbitrate only if needed — in a single clause.
Mediation only
Use when: you want a mediated settlement — binding and enforceable under the Mediation Act, 2023 — without arbitration.
A pre-arbitration step won't cost you the right to arbitrate
A common worry with multi-tier clauses is that skipping the negotiation or mediation step could sink the arbitration. Under the FEAM Rules it does not — failure to complete an earlier tier does not, of itself, deprive the Tribunal of jurisdiction, unless that tier is an express condition precedent to arbitration and binding precedent at the seat confirms that strict non-compliance defeats jurisdiction.
FEAM encourages parties to use the earlier tiers, and rewards it: parties who first attempt FEAM mediation on the same dispute receive a 10% reduction in arbitration administrative fees.
Online arbitration
Use when: you want the entire matter run online — filing, hearings, and award — through FEAM's ODR platform (Schedule G).
Emergency arbitrator opt-in
Use when: you may need urgent interim relief before a tribunal is constituted (Schedule E), expressly agreed in advance.
UNCITRAL ad hoc — FEAM as appointing authority
Use when: you want ad hoc arbitration under the UNCITRAL Rules, with FEAM appointing the tribunal but not administering the case.
Adopting FEAM's clause across a portfolio of contracts?
For organisations standardising dispute resolution across loan documents, vendor agreements, or policy templates, FEAM offers clause-adoption support and empanelment arrangements. Talk to us about rolling a FEAM clause into your standard forms.
These model clauses are starting points, not legal advice. Adapt them with legal advice to your transaction, and always specify the seat, governing law, language, and number of arbitrators explicitly. Clauses reproduced from Schedule J, FEAM Institutional Rules, Version 1.0 (2026).