The Union finance ministry has circulated the draft scheme for a one-time settlement of contractual disputes—called Vivad se Vishwas 2—for stakeholder consultation.
- The initiative was announced in the budget 2023-24.
Key points
- Vivad se Vishwas 2 is aimed at promoting ease of doing business and will cover disputes up to 30 September 2022.
- The scheme will apply to disputes where one of the parties is either the Government of India or its following bodies: All Autonomous Bodies of the Government of India; Public sector banks and public sector financial institutions; All Central Public Sector Enterprises; Union Territories, National Capital Territory of Delhi and all agencies/ undertakings thereof; All organisations, where Central Government like Metro Corporations, where Government of India has shareholding of 50%.
- The scheme will only cover disputes where the claim for proceedings, either to Court or for Arbitration or Conciliation were submitted by the contractor on or before 30 September, 2022 and Arbitral Tribunal or Committee for Conciliation for the specific case has already been notified by the procuring entity.
- However, disputes, where claims are raised against procuring entities along with some other party like the State Government or private party will not be eligible under the scheme.
- Besides, disputes having only financial claims against the procuring entities will be settled through this scheme.
- The Scheme proposes a graded settlement terms depending on pendency level of the dispute.
- It is proposed to cover only for cases involving domestic arbitration and cases under international arbitration are not eligible to be settled under this scheme.
- The scheme will be implemented through Government e-Marketplace (GeM), which shall provide an online functionality for the same.
