Types of Contracts

Your friend says, “I'll pay you Rs 10,000 if your shop burns down.” Another says, “I'll pay you Rs 10,000 if India wins tonight.” A neighbour pays your overdue electricity bill while you are abroad and later asks for the money back. You tick “I Agree” on forty pages of terms to install an app. All four are legal arrangements, yet the law treats each differently: one is a contingent contract, one is a void wager, one is a relation resembling a contract, and one is a contract you never negotiated. This topic sorts them.

In two minutes

Contracts are classified by how they are made, how far they are performed and how enforceable they are; the Act gives special rules to contingent contracts (ss.31-36), makes wagers void (s.30), and treats certain relations as if they were contracts (ss.68-72), while standard-form and electronic agreements test how old rules fit new practice.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Law of Contract and Specific Relief on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.