ACUITY ON MASTER- SERVANT/SERVICE CONTRACT

Written by Ankit Tiwari, Lawyer

Introduction:

Law is a subject that establishes duties between two people (here, people include legal or non-legal entities). One such tool of the law that defines and determines the course of a certain transaction or relationship is the Contract.

We frequently reach moments throughout our daily activities where we either provide services or are receptive. Each of these situations has many rights, obligations, and duties for both parties. The service-providing transaction becomes fake and ambiguous in court due to the lack of legal assistance. Therefore, it is highly recommended to have a service/master-servant agreement to prevent such harm.

A Master-Servant Contract is often referred to as a Service Contract (hereinafter referred to as 'contract'). The role of said contract is to define the details of parties, the scope of services, timeline, warranty, and consideration which is attached to the transaction.

There are some ingredients of the Contract. These are as follows-

1) Term of Contract

2) Scope of Services

3) Statement of Work

4) Representative and Warranties

5) Condition Precedent

6) Default and Termination

7) Consideration as per Section 25 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872.

This list is inclusive in nature which signifies that more clauses can be added as per the nature of the case.

The Statement of Work clause is the most significant of the aforementioned clauses. This clause may contain multiple sub-clauses. However, the Statement of Work clause must always have four teachable points:

1) What services are provided?

2) How the services will be provided?

3) Transaction duration/timeline.

4) Penalty for exceeding the deadline.

The Advantages of having a Contract are:

1) Define and decide the parties' rights and responsibilities.

2) Define and lay out the service delivery roadmap.

3) Specify the duration and timeline of the transaction.

4) Define and provide a pre-determined penalty for breach of contract.

6) The resolution of disputes and other important clauses can be decided.

5) A Written document is always a piece of better evidence in the Court of Law as compared to an oral document, thus making the chances of getting relief higher.

Conclusion:

This contract is useful for those dealing with service-related transactions.

It is crucial for companies, vendors, artists, and event managers, as all the services provided by them can be specifically pointed out. Also, the chances of getting relief through the court in case of infringement are increased because of such a contract.

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