Postal Rule and Revocation of Offer

📑 On this page

⚡ The short answer

An offer is communicated when it reaches the offeree's knowledge. A posted acceptance binds the offeror the moment it is posted, but binds the acceptor only when it reaches the offeror. So the offeror can revoke until the acceptance is sent; the acceptor can revoke until it arrives. On a call, acceptance counts only when heard.

🎬 The 30-second story

The espresso machine and the silent phone

“Café espresso machine, ₹60,000. Reply by post.”

✉️

Kabir

Kabir's letter reaches Zoya on Wednesday.

“Deal! Posting my yes right now.”

📮

Zoya

Friday, 10:00 am. Phone on silent.

“Rohan offered ₹75,000. OFFER WITHDRAWN!”

📱

Kabir

Sent at 9:50 am. Zoya reads it at noon.

“Too late, Kabir. The machine is mine.”

⚖️

Zoya

Kabir: ‘But I sent mine first!’

Tara's ruling: Zoya wins. A revocation counts only when it reaches the offeree: noon. Her acceptance was posted at 10:00, binding Kabir from that moment. Sending first isn't enough; arriving first is.

When is an offer, acceptance or revocation ‘communicated’?

Every message raises one question: when does it count, and against whom? An offer counts once the offeree knows of it; an unopened letter hasn't communicated anything. An acceptance is split: it binds the offeror once sent out of the acceptor's control, but binds the acceptor only when it reaches the offeror. A revocation bites only when it reaches the other side.

Message	Complete against the sender when…	Complete against the receiver when…
Offer	(not split: one moment only)	it comes to the offeree's knowledge
Acceptance	Against the offeror: it is put in transmission, out of the acceptor's power (posted, sent)	Against the acceptor: it comes to the offeror's knowledge
Revocation	it is put in transmission, out of the sender's power	it comes to the receiver's knowledge

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📌 What CLAT actually expects

The passage hands you this rule, often word for word. Label the proposer and the acceptor, mark each timestamp, and ask ‘complete as against whom?’. Most wrong options swap the two sides.

How long can each side change their mind?

Because acceptance is split, there are two revocation windows. The offeror's shuts when the acceptance is sent; the acceptor's stays open until it arrives.

🕒 Timeline

The post-box timeline: who can still back out?

1
Day 1

Kabir posts an offer

He may revoke, but it must reach Zoya before she replies.
2
Day 3

Offer reaches Zoya

Communicated; she can now accept.
3
Day 4

Zoya posts her acceptance

Kabir's window shuts. He is bound.
4
Day 5

Letter in transit

Zoya can still revoke by a call that beats the letter.
5
Day 6

Acceptance reaches Kabir

Zoya's window shuts. Both bound.

⚠️ India lets the acceptor revoke; England doesn't

In English law a posted acceptance is final once posted. The Indian rule lets the acceptor revoke until the letter arrives, so a call that overtakes it cancels the acceptance.

🧭 Decision flow

Did the revocation arrive in time?

❓ Was the acceptance given face to face or on a live call?

Yes →

Windows collapse into one moment. Once the offeror hears the ‘yes’, neither side can revoke.

No ↓

❓ Who is trying to revoke?

Offeror (the offer) →

❓ Did the revocation reach the offeree's knowledge before she sent her acceptance?

When it was sent doesn't matter.

Yes →

Offer revoked. No contract.

No →

Too late. The offeror is bound.

Acceptor (the acceptance) →

❓ Did the revocation reach the offeror no later than the acceptance did?

Yes →

Acceptance revoked. No contract.

No →

Too late. Both parties are bound.

What if the acceptance letter gets lost or delayed?

Run the rule literally. Rohan posts a properly addressed acceptance to Kabir and the letter vanishes. Against Kabir, communication was complete at posting, so Kabir is bound though he never saw it. Against Rohan, it never completes. The offeror invited a slow channel, so he carries its risk.

✓Delay doesn't undo it. A late letter bound the offeror from posting.
✓Address it properly. A letter the acceptor misdirects isn't fairly ‘in transmission to’ the offeror.
✓Post must fit. It must be authorised by the offer, past dealings or trade usage.
✓The offeror can opt out. ‘Must reach me by Friday’ means only receipt counts.

💡 The CLAT shortcut

Lost letter? Write: ‘Against the offeror: complete when posted. Against the acceptor: only on arrival.’ The option that swaps them is the trap.

Phone, email, WhatsApp: does the postal rule still apply?

The postal rule fixes the gap of slow letters. In direct, instantaneous contact there is no gap, so the ordinary rule returns: acceptance counts when the offeror receives it, and the contract is made at the offeror's end. If the line drops mid-‘yes’, nothing is accepted until it's repeated.

⚔️ Side by side

Post vs instantaneous communication

📮Post or courier

A gap between sending and receiving

•Offeror bound once the acceptance is posted
•Acceptor can revoke until it arrives
•Made where the acceptance is posted

📞Phone, video call, live chat

Sending and receiving are one moment

•Bound only when the offeror hears the ‘yes’
•No practical window to revoke
•Made where the offeror receives it

Test	Post or courier	Phone, video call, live chat
Acceptance lost	Offeror still bound	No contract until repeated
Typical CLAT ask	‘Complete as against whom?’	‘Where was it concluded?’

An offeror who carelessly misses the ‘yes’ and doesn't ask again may be barred from denying it.

🧩 At a glance

Where modern channels sit

📞Phone or video call

Instantaneous: complete when and where the offeror hears it.

💬WhatsApp or DM

A live chat behaves like a call; unread messages look more like post. Unsettled: follow the passage.

📧Email

Not live. CLAT 2021 applied the sent-vs-read split; views differ.

🖱️Clickwrap ‘I agree’

Acceptance by conduct. But a Place order click is usually the offer.

📦Courier

Like post: a gap between sending and receiving.

When does an offer die without being revoked?

An offer can also simply lapse. A ‘yes’ to a dead offer is just a fresh offer.

🧩 At a glance

Six ways an offer lapses

⏰Deadline passes

‘Open till Friday 5 pm’: a Saturday ‘yes’ is too late.

⌛Reasonable time passes

Hours for share prices or mangoes; longer for land.

🙅Rejection or counter-offer

A ‘no’ or a ‘yes, but…’ ends it.

📋Condition precedent unmet

‘Accept with a ₹5,000 deposit’ needs the deposit.

🕯️Offeror's death or insanity

Only if the acceptor knows before accepting.

🚪Offeree's death

The offer was personal; heirs can't accept it.

Two more traps. A promise to keep an offer open has no consideration, so the offeror may still revoke before acceptance, unless the offeree paid for the option. And the Indian rule wants notice by the proposer; English courts accepted news from a reliable third person. Follow the passage.

Which cases built these rules?

🐑

Landmark case · 1818 · King's Bench, England

Adams v Lindsell

📋

What happened

Wool dealers offered wool by a misaddressed letter, so it arrived late. The buyers posted an acceptance that evening; meanwhile the dealers, tired of waiting, sold the wool elsewhere.

❓

The question

Was there a contract before the dealers received the acceptance?

🔨

What the court held

Contract complete on posting. Otherwise no postal deal could ever close, as each side would wait for proof the other had received its letter.

What CLAT takes from it: Posting binds the offeror; postal delay is his risk.

📠

Landmark case · 1955 · Court of Appeal, England

Entores Ltd v Miles Far East Corporation

📋

What happened

A London firm telexed an offer to a company's agents in Amsterdam, who accepted by telex printed in London. Jurisdiction turned on where the contract was made.

❓

The question

London, where the acceptance was received, or Amsterdam, where it was sent?

🔨

What the court held

London. For instantaneous communication the postal rule doesn't apply; the contract is made when and where acceptance is received.

What CLAT takes from it: Instant channels: count the moment and place of receipt.

☎️

Landmark case · 1965 · Supreme Court of India

Bhagwandas Goverdhandas Kedia v Girdharilal Parshottamdas

📋

What happened

An Ahmedabad buyer made an offer by long-distance call to a Khamgaon firm, which accepted on the same call. The buyer sued in Ahmedabad; the firm said only Khamgaon courts could hear it.

❓

The question

On a phone call, is the contract made where acceptance is spoken or where it is heard?

🔨

What the court held

Where it is heard. By 2:1, calls fall outside the postal exception: the parties are virtually face to face, so Ahmedabad had jurisdiction. The dissent held the spoken ‘yes’ was ‘put in transmission’ at Khamgaon.

What CLAT takes from it: India follows Entores: phone acceptance completes at the offeror's end.

How has CLAT asked it?

📝 Asked in CLAT 2019 · Q64 Communication of an offer

Principle: The communication of a proposal is complete when it comes to the knowledge of the person to whom it is made. Facts: ‘A’ sent a letter making a proposal to ‘B’ to purchase the house of B.

Apply the principle to the facts and pick the most reasonable conclusion.

AThe communication of proposal is complete when A sent the letter.

BThe communication of proposal is complete when B's wife received it.

CThe communication of proposal is complete when B's wife handed over the letter to B.

DThe communication of proposal is complete when B reads the letter.

Reveal answer + reasoning

Answer: D

Our solution; 2019 has no official key. The test is B's knowledge. Sending, delivery to his wife, holding a sealed envelope: none tells B what it says. Reading does.

Why the others fail

A — sending is not knowledge.
B — the wife isn't the person addressed.
C — holding a sealed letter isn't knowing it.

📝 Asked in CLAT 2021 · Q76 Lost acceptance

The communication of an acceptance is complete, as against the proposer, when it is put in a course of transmission to him so as to be out of the power of the acceptor; as against the acceptor, when it comes to the knowledge of the proposer. … The acceptor does not become bound by merely posting his acceptance…

‘S’ wanted to purchase shares of a company and communicated his offer to buy shares on March 1, 2021. A letter of allotment of shares addressed to ‘S’, which is an acceptance of the offer to purchase shares, was posted by the company on March 10, 2021, but the letter never reached ‘S’ and was lost in transit. In the given situation, which of the following statements is true?

ACommunication of acceptance is not complete as against ‘S’ and hence, there is no valid contract between ‘S’ and the company.

BCommunication of acceptance is complete as against ‘S’ however not complete as against the company.

CCommunication of acceptance is complete as against the company however not complete as against ‘S’.

DCommunication of acceptance is complete against both ‘S’ as well as the company.

Reveal answer + reasoning

Answer: B

Label first: S made the offer, so S is the proposer; the company is the acceptor. Against S, acceptance was complete on posting (10 March). Against the company, it completes only on reaching S, which never happened.

Why the others fail

A — S was bound on posting.
C — swaps proposer and acceptor.
D — the letter never reached S.

📝 Asked in CLAT 2021 · Q80 Telephone acceptance

(Same 2021 passage; it adds that where parties are in direct communication, as by telephone, no contract arises until the offeror receives the acceptance.)

“When the words of acceptance are spoken into the telephone, they are put into the course of transmission to the offerer so as to be beyond the power of the acceptor. The acceptor cannot recall them.” In light of the given proposition, which of the following statements is/are true? I. The communication being instantaneous, the contract immediately arises. II. The communication being instantaneous, the communication of acceptance is immediately complete as against the proposer as well as the acceptor. III. The communication being non-instantaneous, the communication of acceptance is complete as against the acceptor when the words of acceptance are spoken into the telephone. IV. The communication being non-instantaneous, the communication of acceptance is complete as against the proposer when the words of acceptance are spoken into the telephone.

AOnly I

BI and II

CIII and IV

DOnly II

Reveal answer + reasoning

Answer: B

A call is instantaneous: no gap for the split rule. The contract arises at once (I), and acceptance completes against both sides together (II). The quote echoes the Bhagwandas dissent; the majority differed on where, not when.

Why the others fail

A — true but incomplete.
C — a call is not non-instantaneous.
D — leaves out I.

💥 Myth vs fact

Traps students fall for

🙅 Myth

A revocation counts from the moment it's sent.

Tap to bust it →

✅ Fact

Against the offeree it counts only when it reaches her.

🙅 Myth

Once you post an acceptance, you're locked in.

Tap to bust it →

✅ Fact

In India the acceptor can revoke until it reaches the offeror.

🙅 Myth

‘I'll keep this offer open till Sunday’ binds the offeror.

Tap to bust it →

✅ Fact

Not without consideration; he can revoke before you accept.

🙅 Myth

The postal rule covers phone calls and video chats.

Tap to bust it →

✅ Fact

Instant channels: complete when and where the offeror hears it.

🎯 Quick quiz

Beat the clock: 5 quick fact patterns

0 / 5

Indian rule. Zoya posts an acceptance Monday. On Tuesday she phones Kabir: ‘I withdraw.’ The letter arrives Wednesday.

Q1. Is there a contract?

Kabir posts an offer to sell his shop to Rohan, then dies. Rohan, unaware, posts an acceptance.

Q2. What is the position?

On a call, Aarav offers Zoya his bike for ₹40,000. Her ‘Done!’ is lost as the line drops. An hour later Aarav sells it to Rohan.

Q3. Is Aarav bound to Zoya?

On 1 June a farmer offers Kabir 500 kg of fresh mangoes, naming no deadline. Kabir accepts on 25 June.

Q4. Is there a contract?

Kabir in Pune posts an offer to Zoya in Jaipur, inviting a postal reply. She posts an acceptance from Jaipur.

Q5. Where is the contract made?

Now time 15 more deals under the clock

Passage-based Contracts drills in the real CLAT exam screen, with full solutions.

Start a Contracts drill

🎯 In a nutshell

Offer: communicated only when it reaches the offeree's knowledge.
Acceptance: binds the offeror when sent; binds the acceptor when it reaches the offeror.
Two windows: offeror revokes until the acceptance is sent; acceptor revokes until it arrives.
Instant channels: complete when and where the offeror hears or receives the ‘yes’.
Lapse: deadline, reasonable time, rejection, unmet condition, or death known before acceptance.

📎 Good to know, not to memorise

Indian Contract Act, 1872: s.3 communication; s.4 when complete; s.5 revoking proposals and acceptances; s.6 revocation and lapse; s.7 mode of acceptance.
Bhagwandas Goverdhandas Kedia v Girdharilal Parshottamdas, AIR 1966 SC 543 (Hidayatullah J dissenting). Entores v Miles Far East [1955] 2 QB 327.
Household Fire Insurance v Grant (1879): a lost acceptance still binds the offeror. Dickinson v Dodds (1876): a bare promise to keep an offer open doesn't bind.
IT Act, 2000: s.10A e-contracts valid; s.13 email dispatch and receipt rules. Trimex v Vedanta (SC, 2010): an email exchange concluded a contract.

Frequently asked questions

What is the postal rule in simple words?

When an offer invites a postal reply, the offeror is bound the moment the acceptance is properly posted, even if it arrives late or never. The acceptor is bound only once it reaches the offeror. Without the rule, nobody could tell when a deal by letter had closed.

Can an acceptance be revoked in India?

Yes, unlike in English law. The acceptor may revoke until the acceptance reaches the offeror's knowledge. Post an acceptance, then phone to withdraw before the letter arrives, and there is no contract. Once it arrives, both sides are locked in.

Is an email acceptance complete when sent or when read?

It's not settled. CLAT 2021 applied the split rule: complete against the offeror when sent, against the acceptor when read. Some treat email like post, others as near-instant, so apply the passage. That email contracts are valid is not in doubt.

Where is a contract made if it is accepted on a phone call?

Where the offeror hears the acceptance. The Supreme Court held this in Bhagwandas v Girdharilal, following the English Entores case: a call is like a face-to-face talk, so the postal exception doesn't apply. It decides which city's courts can hear a dispute.

Does an offer lapse if the offeror dies?

Only if the acceptor learns of the death or insanity before accepting. A good-faith acceptance without that knowledge forms a contract binding the estate, unless the deal depended on the offeror personally.