In short. A DIAC practice direction is a written instruction from the Arbitration Committee of the Delhi International Arbitration Centre. It's issued under Rule 36.3 of the 2023 Rules to fill in how those Rules work day to day. Two matter most right now. If you want interim relief from the tribunal, you must declare a tentative claim value and deposit at least 20 percent of the arbitrator's fee and administrative charges. And preliminary hearings are held virtually. Directions bite the day they're issued. Check the current list on the DIAC website before you file anything or log in for your first hearing.
Is this your situation?
- Your counsel says the tribunal won't take up your urgent application until a deposit is paid, and nobody budgeted for that.
- The Delhi High Court sent your Section 9 petition across to the arbitrator. A week later DIAC wrote asking for money.
- The notice for your first hearing came with a video link. You'd planned to go to the Centre in person.
- A letter from DIAC mentions deadlines for pleadings and fees, and nobody in your office can say where they come from.
- The tribunal told the other side to put money with DIAC. You want to know who actually holds it, and how you get it out.
- You're stuck on what claim value to write down, worried a big number just means a bigger fee bill.
- Your contract says one thing about hearings. The practice direction seems to say another.
DIAC practice directions in plain words
A practice direction at the Delhi International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) is a published instruction that fills the gap between what the Centre's Rules say and how things actually run. Rule 36.3 of the DIAC (Arbitration Proceedings) Rules, 2023 lets the Arbitration Committee issue them from time to time, to supplement and implement the Rules. You'll find them on the Practice Directions page of the DIAC website. Most apply the day they're issued. And they bind every party arbitrating under the DIAC Rules, whether or not anyone told you about them.
For a business with a live case, two of them carry most of the weight. Practice Direction No. 01/2024, dated 5 September 2024, applies when you ask the tribunal for interim relief, or when a court has referred your Section 9 petition to the arbitrator. You then declare a tentative claim value and deposit at least 20 percent of the total arbitrator's fee and administrative charges. Practice Direction 1/2026, dated 29 May 2026, moves preliminary procedural hearings online. Physical hearings stay for evidence, final arguments and certain applications.
There are older ones too. The 2019 directions set deadlines for pleadings and fee deposits and gave payment details, and a second 2024 direction covers money a tribunal orders a party to deposit with DIAC. We'll go through each, what it changes for you, and what happens if you ignore it. How we handle DIAC files more generally is on our DIAC arbitration lawyer page.
Why a practice direction binds you at all
It comes from your own contract, by way of the Rules. Agree to arbitrate under DIAC, or get referred by a court to arbitration under the aegis of DIAC, and you've accepted the DIAC Rules as your procedure. Section 19(2) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 lets parties agree on the procedure the tribunal will follow. Section 2(8) adds that wherever the Act speaks of the parties' agreement, that includes any arbitration rules the agreement mentions. The DIAC Rules then give the Arbitration Committee power, under Rule 36.3, to issue practice directions. That's the whole chain.
Rule 36 goes a bit further. Decisions of the Arbitration Committee and the Secretariat on arbitration matters bind the parties and the tribunal, subject to Rule 21.1. Where the Rules don't expressly cover something, the Centre and the tribunal are to act in the spirit of the Rules and aim for an arbitration that's fair and quick. Practice directions live inside that frame. The Co-ordinator of DIAC usually signs them for the Committee or the Chairperson.
Clients often mix up four kinds of paper. Keep them apart. The Rules are the main procedural code. Practice directions add to the Rules, for every case at the Centre. Public notices deal with admin, such as holidays or payment arrangements. Procedural orders come from your tribunal and apply to your case alone. When DIAC or the tribunal asks you for something, first work out which of the four it comes from, because that decides how much room you have to ask for a different arrangement.
The practice directions currently on the DIAC website
| Direction | Date | What it's about | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practice Direction 1/2026 | 29 May 2026 (put up on the website in July 2026) | Preliminary hearings held online | Preliminary procedural hearings happen by video. Physical hearings are kept for evidence, final arguments and applications under Sections 13, 16 and 17, or where someone really needs to be there in person |
| Practice direction on monetary deposits with DIAC on directions of the tribunal | 24 September 2024 | Money parked with the Centre under a tribunal's order | Covers how DIAC handles amounts a tribunal tells a party to deposit. Read the text itself for how the money is held and released |
| Practice Direction No. 01/2024 | 5 September 2024 | Provisional deposit in interim relief matters and referred Section 9 petitions | You declare a tentative claim value and deposit at least 20 percent of the total arbitrator's fee and administrative charges, with the application or by the first hearing |
| Details for payment of arbitrators' fee and administrative costs | 12 December 2019 | How to pay | Bank and payment particulars. Look at the current payment page before you transfer anything |
| Practice direction on completion of pleadings and deposit of fees | 5 September 2019 | Deadlines for pleadings and fee deposits | Thirty-day windows, with limited extensions by the Co-ordinator. Check how it sits alongside the 2023 Rules |
The interim relief deposit under Practice Direction 01/2024
This one changed the money side of urgent applications at DIAC. A Section 17 application for interim measures usually goes in right at the start, often before there's a statement of claim and before the Centre has assessed a rupee of fee. But the tribunal still has to read the papers, hear both sides and write a reasoned order. The direction makes sure some fee is in hand for that work. Fair enough, really.
It applies in two cases. You apply to the arbitral tribunal for interim relief. Or a court, hearing your Section 9 petition for interim measures, sends the petition to the arbitrator instead, which the Delhi High Court does in suitable cases once a tribunal is in place. Either way, you have to declare a tentative claim amount for your claims or counter claims. Then you deposit with DIAC a provisional sum of at least 20 percent of the total arbitrator's fee and administrative charges payable on that amount.
The money is due with the application, or on or before the first hearing before the tribunal. It's provisional. Once the statement of claim and any counter claim are on record, the Centre assesses the fees properly and adjusts what you've paid. Skip the deposit and the direction lets the tribunal take measures like those in Rule 33.5 of the 2023 Rules, which can go as far as terminating the proceedings for the claim concerned. Whether to go to court or to the tribunal for urgent relief in the first place is a separate question. It's covered in our guide on interim relief in a DIAC arbitration.
Paying the interim relief deposit, one step at a time
Settle a claim value you can stand behind
Add up what you'll really claim. That's the principal, interest to date at the rate you're going to plead, and any damages you've already put a number on. Leave out figures you can't support. But don't drop a large head of claim you know you'll raise later.
Run the fee on that figure
Use the fee calculator on the DIAC website. It applies the schedules under the DIAC (Administrative Costs and Arbitrators' Fees) Rules, 2018. Write down the total arbitrator's fee and administrative charges it shows.
Treat 20 percent as the floor
The direction says at least 20 percent of the total. Some clients round up a little so there's no argument later about a shortfall. If the calculation looks odd, ask the Secretariat for the current figure.
Pay through DIAC's own payment route
Use the payment link on the DIAC website and quote the case number or application reference. Save the receipt. You'll need it.
Put the value and the payment in the application
State the tentative claim value and the deposit details in the application itself, and annex the receipt. The tribunal should be able to see on day one that you've complied.
Expect a top-up later
Once the statement of claim and any counter claim are filed, DIAC works out the full fees and either asks for the balance or adjusts what you've paid. Keep the provisional receipt in your fee file.
When Advocate B.K. Singh drafts a Section 17 application in a DIAC matter, the tentative claim figure gets fixed in the same meeting where the relief itself is decided. A number cobbled together on the morning of filing is where most of the later deposit fights begin.
What claim value should you write down?
The figure you honestly expect to claim. Clients feel the pull both ways. A low number means a smaller cheque today, while a high one might seem to impress the tribunal with how urgent things are. Neither holds up for long.
Go low and the deposit gets adjusted upwards the moment your statement of claim is filed. Worse, the other side will wave the low figure around as proof that the real dispute is smaller than you now say, or that the urgency was overplayed. Go high and you've locked up more money than you needed to until the fees are reassessed. And an inflated number in a sworn application isn't something you'll enjoy explaining in cross-examination.
Respondents, take note. The direction covers counter claims too. If you're the respondent and you ask for interim relief on your counter claim, you make the same declaration and the same deposit. Where the court has referred a Section 9 petition to the tribunal, whoever filed the petition carries the deposit, even if the other side started the arbitration. How DIAC fees are worked out in general is in our guide on DIAC arbitration fees and who pays them.
What happens if the deposit isn't paid?
The tribunal can deal with it the way the Rules deal with any unpaid deposit. Under Rule 33.5 of the 2023 Rules, the Centre can terminate the arbitration if a party doesn't make a deposit within thirty days of the date it falls due. If the tribunal's already constituted, the Centre can direct the tribunal to terminate it. Separately, Section 38(2) of the Act lets a tribunal suspend or terminate proceedings on a claim or counter claim when the deposit isn't paid.
The courts have backed the Centre's way of assessing fees separately. In Samsung India Electronics v. Delhi International Arbitration Centre (18 March 2026), the Delhi High Court upheld the DIAC Co-ordinator's decision to assess fees on the claim and the counter claim separately, after the respondent wouldn't pay its share on the main claim. The court noted that DIAC can't force anyone to pay, but Rule 33.5 lets it terminate the proceedings for whichever claim or counter claim goes unfunded. Then there's Harshbir Singh Pannu v. Jaswinder Singh (2025). There the Supreme Court said a party whose arbitration is terminated for non-payment should first ask the tribunal to recall the order and then go to court under Section 14(2). A fresh Section 11 petition isn't the route.
Put bluntly, an interim application filed without the deposit probably won't get you the relief. It might cost you the claim. If cash is tight, write to the tribunal and the Centre before the first hearing and ask for a short extension. Don't just stay quiet. Our guide on paying DIAC fees and what happens if you miss a deposit sets out the options.
Practice Direction 1 of 2026 and online preliminary hearings
The Arbitration Committee issued this on 29 May 2026. It says preliminary procedural hearings at DIAC shall be held virtually. The Centre's physical hearing rooms are kept for substantive hearings (recording evidence and final arguments), for applications under Sections 13, 16 and 17 of the Act, and for other cases where attendance in person is thought necessary. The reasons given are transparent scheduling and better use of the rooms. It applied at once.
Most clients like it. The first hearing after the tribunal is constituted, the sittings to fix the timetable, the directions on producing documents and the short compliance dates all happen on video now. Nobody drives to the Delhi High Court campus and waits in a corridor for a ten-minute sitting. A director in Gurugram or a finance head in Noida joins from the office. Hearings where the tribunal needs to watch a witness or sit through long argument stay physical.
Watch two things. Section 13 challenges to an arbitrator, Section 16 objections to jurisdiction and Section 17 interim applications can be heard in person, so if you want your interim application argued across the table, ask early and give reasons. And Rule 26.1(a) of the 2023 Rules still lets the tribunal decide, after consulting the parties, whether any hearing is in person or remote. A request specific to your case is always open. Our guide on where DIAC sits and how its hearings run covers the practical side of both formats.
The 2019 directions on pleadings and fees
The direction of 5 September 2019 laid down timelines. Within seven days of getting a Section 11 reference or a request for arbitration, DIAC was to call for the statement of claim within thirty days, if it hadn't already been filed. The Co-ordinator could allow up to fifteen more days for sufficient cause. After that the reference was treated as closed. The respondent then got thirty days for its reply and counter claim, again extendable by fifteen, with similar windows for replies and rejoinders and no extension at all for a final rejoinder. Fees ran the same way. The Co-ordinator notified the fee within seven days of the statement of claim, payment was due in thirty days (extendable by fifteen), and if it still wasn't paid, the reference was treated as closed.
All of that came before the 2023 Rules. Those Rules have their own provisions on the statement of claim (Rule 16), the defence and counter claim (Rule 17), the tribunal's procedural timetable (Rule 21) and deposits (Rule 33). In a case running today, the timetable you have to meet is the one in your tribunal's procedural order, read with the 2023 Rules. Read the 2019 direction as a sign of how the Centre feels about delay. Then ask the Secretariat whether any part of it is actually being applied in your matter. What a DIAC statement of claim should contain is in our guide on drafting a DIAC statement of claim.
When the tribunal tells a party to deposit money with DIAC
A lot of interim relief comes as security. On a Section 17 application, the tribunal may tell the respondent to deposit the disputed amount, or part of it, instead of freezing its bank accounts or stopping it from selling property. Section 17(1)(ii)(b) expressly allows the tribunal to secure the amount in dispute. When the order says the money goes to DIAC, the Centre's practice direction of 24 September 2024 on monetary deposits made on the tribunal's directions governs how it's handled.
Read that direction, and the tribunal's order, before you pay in or expect to receive anything. The questions are practical ones. In whose name is the money held? Does it earn interest? Who bears the charges? And what order do you need to get it released at the end of the case, or on settlement? If the order doesn't say, ask the tribunal to sort it out then and there, not two years later when everyone's forgotten the details.
Don't mix this up with the fee deposit. Security towards the claim is held for the parties and comes out only by order. Fee deposits pay the arbitrators and the Centre. They aren't returned except as the Fee Rules allow.
How the directions change time and money in your case
| Stage | Direction or rule | What it means for you | Usual timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| You file an interim application before the tribunal | Practice Direction 01/2024 | Declare a tentative claim value and deposit at least 20 percent of the arbitrator's fee and administrative charges | With the application, or by the first hearing |
| The court refers your Section 9 petition to the arbitrator | Practice Direction 01/2024 | The petitioner makes the same declaration and deposit | Before or at the first hearing before the tribunal |
| First procedural hearing and later directions hearings | Practice Direction 1/2026; Rule 26.1(a) | Online. No trip to the Centre | Usually a few weeks after the tribunal is constituted |
| Evidence, final arguments, applications under Sections 13, 16 and 17 | Practice Direction 1/2026 | Physical hearing rooms available at the Centre | Whenever the procedural timetable fixes them |
| Full fee assessment once pleadings are in | Rule 33; Fee Rules, 2018 | Provisional deposit adjusted. The balance is asked for in equal shares unless the order says otherwise | After the statement of claim and counter claim are filed |
| Deposit not paid | Rule 33.5; Section 38(2) | The claim or counter claim can be terminated | Thirty days after the deposit falls due |
| Security deposited under the tribunal's order | Practice direction of 24 September 2024 | Money sits with DIAC until an order releases it | As the tribunal directs |
Can a practice direction override the Act or your contract?
Not the mandatory parts of the Act. Section 18 says the parties must be treated equally and each given a full opportunity to present its case. No direction can take that away. Nor can a direction change the time limit in Section 29A, the independence rules in Section 12 or the grounds of challenge in Section 34.
Where the Act leaves things to the parties, it's a different story. By picking the DIAC Rules, you picked a framework that includes the Committee's power to issue directions. Suppose your contract says something specific that clashes with a direction, for instance that every hearing shall be in person. Raise it early with the tribunal and the Centre. The tribunal will try to fit the two together, and Rule 36.2 asks it to act in the spirit of the Rules.
Keeping quiet has a cost. Under Section 4 of the Act, a party that knows a non-mandatory provision or a requirement of the arbitration agreement hasn't been followed, and carries on without objecting without undue delay, is deemed to have waived its right to object. If you think a direction is being applied in a way your agreement doesn't permit, object in writing at the time. Saving it for a Section 34 petition after the award rarely works. By then it's usually too late.
Check these before your first DIAC hearing
- The current list on the DIAC Practice Directions page, and the date on each direction
- Whether you, or the other side, plan to ask for interim relief, and what tentative claim value goes with it
- What the fee calculator shows on that value, and the 20 percent provisional deposit that follows from it
- The payment receipt with the case or application reference on it, ready to annex
- How the cause list shows the hearing, and the video link instructions if it's online
- Any clause in your contract about where or how hearings happen, if you mean to rely on it
- The tribunal's first procedural order, if it's out, and the timetable it sets
- Any order for a security deposit with DIAC, and what it says about release
- Roughly when pleadings will be complete, so you can work out the Section 29A clock
Do the directions apply to emergency and court-referred matters?
Emergency arbitration under Rule 14 of the 2023 Rules has its own fee arrangements, paid by the applicant with the application, and the emergency arbitrator has to decide within fourteen days of appointment. Practice Direction 01/2024 is written around interim relief from the arbitral tribunal and Section 9 petitions referred to the arbitrator. So don't assume it's the only payment in an emergency application. Check the emergency arbitration charges with the Centre before you apply. The procedure itself is in our guide on the DIAC emergency arbitrator.
Court-referred arbitrations are DIAC's daily bread. When the Delhi High Court appoints an arbitrator under Section 11 and says the arbitration will run under DIAC, the case is registered and administered under the DIAC Rules, and the directions apply as usual. Ad hoc arbitrations that have only booked a DIAC hearing room are murkier. Ask the Secretariat which directions, if any, cover facility-only bookings.
A made-up example: the interim application and the deposit that nearly wasn't
This is an invented case, to show how the pieces fit together. A plastic moulding unit in Bawana supplies crates to a cold-chain company in Sonipat, under a contract with a DIAC arbitration clause. Rs 54 lakh of invoices sit unpaid. Then word reaches the moulding unit that the buyer is about to sell its main refrigerated warehouse. Its counsel files a Request for Arbitration. Once a sole arbitrator is appointed, a Section 17 application follows, asking that the buyer be restrained from selling the warehouse or, failing that, be told to deposit Rs 54 lakh with DIAC.
The application gives a tentative claim value of Rs 71 lakh. That's principal plus interest at the contract rate to date. Annexed to it is a receipt for a deposit a little above 20 percent of the arbitrator's fee and administrative charges on that figure, worked out on the DIAC fee calculator. Since Practice Direction 1/2026 allows it for Section 17 applications, the first hearing on the application is physical. The tribunal tells the buyer to deposit Rs 40 lakh with DIAC within three weeks or give an undertaking not to sell, and records how the deposit will be held and released.
Later the statement of claim goes in at Rs 71 lakh. The Centre assesses the full fees, asks both sides for their shares and credits the moulding unit's provisional deposit. The buyer now has a security order and a fee bill. It starts talking settlement. None of that happens if the moulding unit files without the deposit and spends its first hearing arguing about money.
Where businesses trip up on DIAC's directions
- Not reading the current list. Directions apply from the day they're issued and they're posted on the DIAC website. Something issued last month governs your hearing next week.
- Filing a Section 17 application with no deposit. The tribunal can treat that like any other unpaid deposit under Rule 33.5.
- Rushing the tentative claim value. It's provisional for fee purposes, but it's still a statement in your application. Give it a proper hour.
- Turning up expecting an in-person first hearing. Under the 2026 direction, preliminary hearings are virtual. If you need a physical one, ask early and say why.
- Working off the 2019 windows instead of the procedural order. What you actually have to meet is your tribunal's timetable under the 2023 Rules.
- Treating a security deposit like a fee deposit. The first is held for the parties and released by order. The second pays the tribunal and the Centre.
- Objecting too late. Under Section 4, carry on without objecting to a departure from the agreed procedure and you may lose the objection.
Keeping track of new DIAC directions
The Practice Directions page on dhcdiac.nic.in is the main source, with each direction listed by date and a PDF. Public notices on the same site, and announcements on the Delhi High Court website, sometimes carry them as well. There's no schedule. Directions come out when the Arbitration Committee sees a need, as it did on interim relief deposits in 2024 and virtual hearings in 2026.
In a pending case, the tribunal's first procedural order often refers to the Rules and to any direction that matters. If a new one comes out halfway through your arbitration, the Secretariat or the tribunal will usually say how it applies. Advocate B.K. Singh checks the Practice Directions page before every first hearing and before any interim application goes in, and notes the date of the latest direction on the file. The list changes with little warning. Our guide on how to track DIAC case status and hearing dates covers the other places worth watching.
What to do about DIAC's directions this week
Open the Practice Directions page on the DIAC website and read the two that matter most right now, No. 01/2024 on interim relief deposits and 1/2026 on virtual preliminary hearings. Planning an interim application? Settle the tentative claim value, put it through the fee calculator and arrange the 20 percent deposit before you file. Not after.
Check how your next hearing is shown in the cause list, and get the video details if it's online. If your contract says something about where or how hearings happen and you want that enforced, write to the tribunal now. Don't wait for the hearing itself. For help at any stage of a DIAC matter, see our DIAC arbitration lawyer services.
If you'd like your Section 17 application, deposit calculation or procedural order checked against the current DIAC practice directions, or you want to hear when a new direction comes out, send your papers to Advocate B.K. Singh's team through the contact page.
Frequently asked questions
Who issues DIAC practice directions?
The Arbitration Committee of the Delhi International Arbitration Centre, under Rule 36.3 of the DIAC (Arbitration Proceedings) Rules, 2023. The Centre's Co-ordinator usually signs them, and they go up on the DIAC website.
How much is the DIAC interim relief deposit?
At least 20 percent of the total arbitrator's fee and administrative charges, worked out on the tentative claim value you declare. The rupee figure depends on that value, so run it through the DIAC fee calculator and check the current schedule.
Do I get the interim relief deposit back?
It isn't a separate charge. It's a provisional payment towards fees. Once the statement of claim and counter claim are filed and the full fees assessed, DIAC adjusts it against your share and asks for whatever's left.
Does the 20 percent deposit apply to a Section 9 petition in court?
Not while the petition is still with the court. It kicks in once the court refers the Section 9 petition to the arbitrator. Then the petitioner declares a tentative claim value and pays the deposit before the tribunal.
Can I ask for my first DIAC hearing to be physical?
Under Practice Direction 1/2026, preliminary procedural hearings are virtual. If you've got a real reason to be there in person, write to the tribunal early. It decides the mode under Rule 26.1(a) after consulting both sides.
Do DIAC practice directions apply to cases filed before they came out?
They usually take effect immediately, so in a pending case they generally govern steps taken after they're issued. If you think one shouldn't apply to a step that's already under way, raise it with the tribunal and the Secretariat.
Where can I read a DIAC practice direction in full?
On the Practice Directions page of the official DIAC website, dhcdiac.nic.in. Each one is posted as a PDF with its date. Read the actual text, not someone's summary of it, before you rely on it.
Can a practice direction cut down my right to be heard?
No. Section 18 of the Arbitration Act guarantees equal treatment and a full opportunity to present your case, and no direction overrides it. Directions deal with how and when things happen. Not your right to be heard at all.
Advocate B.K. Singh
Founder of B.K. Singh & Associates. MCA, LL.B., LL.M. More than twenty years in practice before the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court, district and commercial courts in Delhi NCR, and tribunals.
This guide explains the law in general terms and is not legal advice. For advice on your own papers, contact the team.