DIAC Arbitration Fees: Arbitrator Fee, Administrative Cost and Who Pays

What DIAC charges, in plain terms

DIAC's fees come from the DIAC (Administrative Costs and Arbitrators' Fees) Rules, 2018. The Centre calls them the DIAC Fee Rules. There are three heads. The administrative cost goes to the Centre itself, and each side pays it on a scale based on the sum in dispute. The arbitrator's fee is worked out from Schedule B for domestic arbitrations, on the claim and counter claim added together. Then there are miscellaneous expenses, like hearing room charges, which the DIAC Coordinator fixes.

Under Rule 4 of the Fee Rules, these amounts are split equally. You pay them in advance, and the tribunal has the final say on costs later. Rule 33 of the DIAC (Arbitration Proceedings) Rules, 2023 repeats the point for deposits: 50 percent each from claimant and respondent, unless the Centre directs a different split. Once the award is made, Section 31A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (the Act) lets the tribunal order the losing side to reimburse the winner.

We've taken the figures below from the DIAC Fee Rules as published on DIAC's website, with Schedules A and B in force from 1 December 2022. DIAC revises its schedules every so often. It also runs a fee calculator on its website. Check the current schedule before you file or budget. Your lawyer's fees are separate, and DIAC has nothing to do with them.

Administrative cost each side pays (Schedule A, domestic cases)

Arbitrator's fee schedule (Schedule B, domestic cases, per arbitrator)

Working out the arbitrator's fee

Schedule B comes with three notes. You need all of them. A sole arbitrator gets an extra 25 percent on top of the table figure. In a three-member tribunal, the table applies to each arbitrator separately, so the tribunal's total is three times the table figure, with no 25 percent addition. And the Rs 60 lakh ceiling applies to an arbitrator's entire fee, fixed and variable parts together.

The scale is regressive. As the amount goes up, the percentage comes down. That's why the fee on Rs 4 crore is far less than four times the fee on Rs 1 crore. It's also why assessing a claim and counter claim separately usually costs more in total than assessing them together. Keep that in mind, because it matters in the part on separate assessment further down.

There are other schedules too. Schedule C is a lower scale for summary arbitration of small claims up to Rs 10 lakh. Schedule D is in US dollars, for international commercial arbitration, and Schedule E covers emergency arbitration. Schedule F sets out the stage-wise release of fees. If yours isn't a plain domestic claim, ask DIAC which schedule applies.

What DIAC treats as the sum in dispute

Under Rule 3(ii) of the Fee Rules, the arbitrator's fee is assessed on the aggregate of the claims and counter claims. Say you claim Rs 1.5 crore and the respondent counter claims Rs 50 lakh. Fees are worked out on Rs 2 crore. Simple addition. Valuation follows the principles civil courts in India apply, and the Coordinator can reassess fees if a claim is undervalued or isn't expressed in money at all.

Some claims have no figure attached, like damages still to be assessed, or a declaration. For those the Centre puts in a provisional estimate under Rule 33.3 of the 2023 Rules and adjusts it later. If a party amends its claim upward, Rule 18.2 lets the Coordinator revise the fees, and Rule 33.4 lets the Centre ask for further deposits. Interest claimed up to the date of the claim is usually part of the amount stated. Still, ask the Centre how it's treating interest in your assessment. Don't assume.

When Advocate B.K. Singh settles a Statement of Claim, he holds the claim figure up against the fee bands. If a claim is honestly worth Rs 98 lakh, plead Rs 98 lakh. Rounding it up to Rs 1.05 crore pushes both the arbitrator's fee and the administrative cost into a higher band, and you gain nothing from it. It cuts the other way too. Plead low to save fees and you've capped what you can be awarded, unless you amend later and pay more.

One arbitrator or three: what it does to the bill

Look at the schedule and a three-member tribunal comes to about 2.4 times the cost of one arbitrator, because you pay three table fees against a single table fee plus 25 percent. On a Rs 2 crore dispute the table fee is Rs 4,87,500. One arbitrator gets Rs 6,09,375. Three get Rs 14,62,500 between them. And all of it is paid up front, half from each side.

Three arbitrators can make sense when the dispute turns on technical questions. A construction or engineering claim is the usual case, where one member brings technical knowledge to the table. They also make sense when the stakes are so large that the extra cost hardly registers. For an unpaid-invoice claim of under a few crore, we'd normally suggest a sole arbitrator. It's cheaper, and frankly it's usually enough. Under Rule 8 of the 2023 Rules, if the parties haven't agreed on the number, it's a sole arbitrator anyway. Dates matter too. Three busy arbitrators find common dates less often, and the timetable stretches.

When you pay, and when the arbitrator gets paid

The administrative cost is paid on filing. For the claimant that's with the Request for Arbitration (Rule 4.1). For the respondent it's with the Response (Rule 5.1). The arbitrator's fee can't be assessed until the tribunal exists and the sum in dispute is clear, and only then does DIAC call for deposits. DIAC keeps hold of them under Rule 33.7.

Arbitrators are paid in instalments, not a lump sum. Schedule F of the Fee Rules sets the stages. The first 20 percent is released when issues are framed, or earlier if a Section 16 or 17 application is decided first. Then 20 percent once the claimant's evidence is done, another 20 percent once the respondent's is done, and the final 40 percent after the award. Nothing is released for a stage until that stage is over. If things end before issues are framed, the Chairperson decides the payout.

This protects you. If a case settles or is withdrawn early, the tribunal is paid for the stage it reached, not the whole fee (subject to the settlement minimum explained further down). How long each stage takes is set out in our guide on the DIAC arbitration process.

Stage by stage: what gets paid, when, and by whom

Checking and paying a DIAC fee assessment

Once DIAC sends its assessment, this is the order we'd suggest for your finance team and counsel.

1. Add up the sum in dispute

   Put the quantified claim and any counter claim together. If interest up to the claim date was claimed as a number, it goes in. Anything unquantified, list on its own.

2. Run it through the schedule

   Use Schedule B. For one arbitrator, add 25 percent. For three, multiply by three. Then cap each arbitrator at Rs 60 lakh and check your answer on DIAC's online calculator.

3. Compare it with DIAC's figure

   If your number and the Centre's don't match, work out the reason. A counter claim you missed is common. So is a provisional estimate on an unquantified claim, or a revaluation. Errors go to the Coordinator, in writing, quickly.

4. Start internal approval the same day

   Companies and public bodies should start approvals the day the assessment arrives, not after the next board meeting. Under Rule 33.5, a deposit that's 30 days late can get the claim or counter claim terminated.

5. Pay through DIAC's channel and keep proof

   Follow DIAC's payment instructions, quote the case number, and send the proof to the Centre. Keep your own ledger of every deposit. At the costs stage, that ledger is your evidence.

6. Watch for further demands

   Every amendment, new counter claim or revaluation can mean another demand under Rule 33.4. Each one gets the same 30-day treatment.

Who ends up paying?

That 50:50 deposit is an advance, nothing more. Section 31A of the Act and Rule 32 of the 2023 Rules leave it to the tribunal to decide who bears costs, in what amount and by when. Normally the losing side pays the winner's costs. The tribunal can order otherwise, but it must write down why. Costs cover the arbitrators' fees, DIAC's charges, witness expenses and legal fees.

When it decides costs, the tribunal looks at how the parties behaved. Did one side win only in part? Did someone make frivolous claims or cause delay, or turn down a reasonable settlement offer? Rule 32.4 lets it consider how efficiently each side ran its case. The tribunal can award a share of costs, a fixed sum, costs for a particular period or stage, and interest on costs. One trap to know about. A contract term making one party pay costs whatever the result is valid only if it was agreed after the dispute arose (Section 31A(5) and Rule 32.3(d)).

So if you win and you've paid both halves of the deposit, ask for the full amount in your final submissions. Set out clearly what you paid and when. Tribunals award what's proved. Your ledger of deposits, with DIAC receipts, is the proof.

If the other side won't pay its share

This comes up all the time, mostly with respondents. The Act already has an answer. Under Section 38(2), one party may pay the share the other owes. DIAC's Rule 33.2 goes a step further: both parties are jointly and severally liable for deposits, and either can pick up the other's share. If the money never comes from anyone, Rule 33.5 kicks in. Before the tribunal exists, the Centre can terminate the arbitration. After that, it can direct the tribunal to terminate whichever claim or counter claim is unfunded. You're free to refile.

DIAC has a second option. Under the proviso to Rule 3(ii) of the Fee Rules, when a party won't pay its share, the claim and the counter claim can be assessed separately. That's what happened in Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd v. Delhi International Arbitration Centre (W.P.(C) 3440/2026, 18 March 2026). The respondent was willing to fund its own counter claim but not the main claim, the Co-ordinator split the assessment, and the Delhi High Court upheld it. The Court also said something worth knowing. DIAC has no power to make anyone pay. All it can do is terminate the claim or counter claim nobody funded. Practical steps are in our guide on the other side not paying DIAC fees.

Other charges, and things that cost nothing extra

Hearing rooms and similar items fall under miscellaneous expenses. The DIAC Coordinator fixes them under Rule 5 of the Fee Rules. Both sides share them. An emergency arbitrator under Rule 14 of the 2023 Rules is charged separately under the Fee Rules, and the applicant pays upfront with the application. Ask the Centre for today's figure before applying, and read our guide on the DIAC emergency arbitrator. If you want to challenge an arbitrator, Rule 10 asks for a Rs 10,000 processing deposit, which you get back if the challenge succeeds. Whether to bother is discussed in our guide on objecting to a DIAC arbitrator. Ask for an adjournment late and it's Rs 3,000 under Rule 21.4.

A few things are free. Rule 7 of the Fee Rules charges nothing extra for a Section 17 application (interim measures from the tribunal) or a Section 33 application (correcting or interpreting the award). Same if a court sets the award aside and remands the case to the same tribunal. No fresh fee, unless the court has directed a fresh trial.

GST isn't mentioned anywhere in the Fee Rules. Talk to your CA about whether it applies to the tribunal's fee, including reverse charge for business recipients. Budget for it either way.

Refunds if you settle, withdraw or the case is terminated

Whatever happens, Rule 7(iv) of the Fee Rules keeps the administrative cost and miscellaneous expenses with DIAC. No refund. The arbitrator's fee is another matter. If the case ends early (settled, withdrawn or terminated), the Coordinator and the Chairperson decide together what the tribunal should get for the stage it reached and the work it put in. Schedule F sets a minimum. Settle before the claimant has finished its evidence and the tribunal is still owed a third of its total fee, at least. Settle later and the stage-wise release applies.

The earlier you settle, the less you spend. After the first procedural hearing, for instance, you'd be out the administrative cost and a slice of the arbitrator's fee, nowhere near all of it. Rule 29 lets both sides ask the tribunal to pause things for mediation, and Section 30 of the Act lets an agreed settlement become an award on agreed terms. Our guide on settling during a DIAC arbitration walks through it.

Papers to keep for the assessment, and for getting costs back

• Your claim figures, with principal and interest worked out up to the date of the claim
• The respondent's counter claim figures, if there are any, exactly as filed
• DIAC's fee assessment letter or order, plus any revised assessment
• Receipts for the administrative cost you paid with the Request or the Response
• A receipt for every deposit towards arbitrators' fees, including any share you paid for the other side
• Receipts for miscellaneous expenses, adjournment fees and any challenge deposit
• The board resolution or approval note that authorised the deposits
• A running costs ledger for the case (DIAC deposits, witness expenses, legal fees) for the costs submission at the end
• Every settlement offer made or received, with dates, because they can affect the costs order

How DIAC fees compare with ad hoc arbitration, a court suit and the MSME Council

Ad hoc arbitration works differently. There, the fee is whatever the parties and the arbitrator agree. Where no agreement is reached, courts appointing arbitrators use the model scale in the Fourth Schedule to the Act. The Supreme Court in ONGC v. Afcons Gunanusa JV (2022) said an arbitrator can't decide his own fee on his own, and it applied the Fourth Schedule ceiling per arbitrator. At DIAC that scale doesn't bite. Section 11(14) of the Act carves out cases where the parties signed up to an institution's fee rules, so DIAC's own schedule governs. Ad hoc can turn out cheaper, or a great deal dearer. At DIAC you at least know the scale going in. More in our guide on DIAC vs ad hoc arbitration.

Go to court instead and there's no arbitrator to pay. You pay ad valorem court fee on the claim, once, as plaintiff, and you'll also spend something on Section 12A pre-institution mediation. Delhi's court fee comes from the Court Fees Act, 1870 in its Delhi amended form. Our guide on the court fee for a recovery suit in Delhi works through it. Then there's the MSME Facilitation Council. A registered micro or small supplier with a delayed-payment dispute can go there under Section 18 of the MSMED Act, 2006, and DIAC's arbitrator schedule plays no part. Ask the Council what it charges now. We compare the two routes in our guide on DIAC or the MSME Council.

What DIAC fees mean for different businesses

• Suppliers and service firms. The fee is a cost of getting your money back, and it comes back to you if you win and the tribunal awards costs. Plan cash flow for a 50:50 deposit, maybe the whole deposit, for about two years.
• Startups. The deposit may be the biggest single cheque you write in the case. Ask for a sole arbitrator, and think about fast track arbitration under Section 29B, which needs both sides to agree. Our guide on DIAC fast track arbitration explains it.
• MSMEs. Before filing, set DIAC fees against the MSME Facilitation Council route. That route also carries interest at three times the RBI bank rate under Sections 15 to 17 of the MSMED Act.
• Large companies and public bodies. Your real risk is internal approvals. Put fee deposits into the litigation budget at the start, so Rule 33.5 never gets triggered by a file stuck on someone's desk.
• Respondents with a counter claim. If you pay only on your own counter claim, you invite separate assessment under the Rule 3(ii) proviso. The total can go up.

Fee mistakes we see businesses make

• Planning for half. Your opponent may not pay. Then the whole deposit could be yours to fund if you want the claim to survive.
• Rounding up. Push the figure a little higher and both the administrative cost and the arbitrator's fee can jump a band.
• Not counting their counter claim. Fees run on the combined figure. Their big counter claim means a bigger deposit from you as well.
• Letting 30 days pass. Rule 33.5 then allows termination of the unfunded claim or counter claim.
• No receipts. Tribunals award costs you can prove. Lose the receipt and you may never see that deposit again.
• Not watching Section 29A. When time is extended, a court can trim the arbitrator's fee by up to five percent a month for delay that's the tribunal's fault. Bring it up when the extension application is heard. Our guide on the DIAC arbitration time limit has the detail.

Before you deposit anything

Work out the sum in dispute and apply the current Schedule A and Schedule B. Decide between a sole arbitrator and three. If there's any chance the other side won't pay, set aside both halves of the deposit. Keep a ledger from day one. And if DIAC's assessment doesn't match yours, write to the Coordinator before the due date. Not after.

In fee disputes that come to Advocate B.K. Singh, the schedule is rarely the problem. The sum in dispute is. A counter claim gets counted twice, or interest is added as a separate claim, or an unquantified relief gets a high provisional value. All of these can be fixed on paper if someone raises them early. For DIAC matters in general, our page on working with a DIAC arbitration lawyer walks through the whole process.

If you'd like a DIAC fee assessment or a cost budget checked before you pay, share it with Advocate B.K. Singh's team through our contact page.