The Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration Releases New Rules

This post highlights the key changes, including new mechanisms for multi-party disputes, expedited procedures, and increased transparency, and considers their likely impact on arbitration in India and beyond.

The Growing Use of Institutional Arbitration in India

The MCIA has published the third edition of its Arbitration Rules, which marks the most substantial update since 2016 (the 2025 Rules). The latest edition, now expanded from 36 to 49 provisions, introduces a host of new procedural innovations amid a time of rapid growth for the MCIA. According to the MCIA Annual Report 2024, the MCIA saw a 48% increase in new cases in 2024, handling a total value of disputes worth over INR 2,180 crores (approximately USD 258 million) last year. Notably, more than 90% of MCIA-administered arbitrations arose from ‘organic’ MCIA clauses that were put in at the time of drafting the relevant contracts, and 90% of the awards issued by MCIA tribunals in 2024 were delivered within 18 months. 

The changes brought by the 2025 Rules will likely continue this trend of the MCIA’s increasingly strong credibility amongst stakeholders and efficiency in case administration. We have set out a non-exhaustive overview of some of the key changes below. 

Managing Multi-Party and Multi-Contract Arbitration

The 2025 Rules introduce a comprehensive framework for complex, multi-party and multi-contract disputes: 

• Combined Requests for Arbitration (Rule 5): Claimants can now file a single Request for Arbitration to commence multiple arbitrations in disputes arising out of or in connection with multiple arbitration agreements, thereby reducing duplication and streamlining the process. 
• Consolidation (Rule 6): The 2025 Rules clarify and expand the existing consolidation provisions and differentiate between consolidation requests made to the MCIA Council (the body responsible for implementing the MCIA Rules) and the tribunal. Consolidation may be ordered where: 

1. all parties agree; 
2. all claims in the arbitrations arise under the same agreement; or
3. the arbitration agreements are compatible and at least one of the following conditions is met: (i) the disputes arise out of the same legal relationship(s); (ii) the disputes arise out of contracts consisting of a principal contract and its ancillary contract(s); or (iii) the disputes arise out of the same transaction or series of transactions (and in the case of consolidation ordered by the tribunal, (iv) a common question of law or fact arises out of or in connection with all the arbitrations).

• Concurrent Proceedings (Rule 7): Parties may now apply to tribunals to conduct multiple arbitrations concurrently where the same tribunal is appointed and a common question of law or fact arises in each arbitration. 
• Joinder (Rule 8): Non-parties can now be joined to arbitrations, either upon an application by a party to the arbitration or by the non-party itself where: (a) the proposed additional party to be joined is prima facie bound by the arbitration agreement; or (b) all existing parties to the arbitration and the proposed additional party have consented to the joinder. This brings the MCIA Rules in line with leading global institutional arbitration rules and enhances efficiency by providing a mechanism for the resolution of all related disputes in a single forum. 

Expedited and Interim Procedures

The 2025 Rules introduce a suite of new tools to expedite proceedings and address urgent issues: 

• Early Dismissal and Summary Procedure (Rule 16): Parties may apply for early dismissal of claims or defences that are manifestly without legal merit, outside the tribunal’s jurisdiction, or unlikely to succeed even if all alleged facts are true. This mirrors provisions in the latest SIAC and HKIAC rules. 
• Expedited Procedure (Rule 17): The maximum monetary threshold for the applicability of the Expedited Procedure has been increased from INR 10 crores (approximately USD 1.2 million) to INR 13 crores (approximately USD 1.5 million). This applies to the aggregate of the claim and any counterclaims, cross-claim, or set-off defence. The amended rules also permit the tribunal, in consultation with the Registrar and the parties, to order that an arbitration shall no longer be conducted in accordance with the Expedited Procedure should the circumstances so require. 
• Emergency Arbitrator (Rule 19): The existing regime has been amended to clarify that any interim order or award of the emergency arbitrator ceases to be binding if the tribunal is not constituted within 90 days of the order or award, or when a final award is made, or if the claim is withdrawn.
• Security for Costs (Rule 21): Tribunals can now order claimants to provide security for costs, discouraging frivolous claims. 
• Preliminary Issues (Rule 28): Tribunals may determine preliminary issues, bifurcate proceedings, or conduct arbitrations in stages for efficient case management. 

Stakeholder Participation and Support

The 2025 Rules introduce a range of updates that reflect contemporary best practices in arbitration, with particular emphasis on transparency and impartiality:

• Tribunal Secretary (Rule 13): The appointment, role, and removal of tribunal secretaries is now regulated, with safeguards to ensure impartiality and prevent delegation of decision-making. 
• Legal Representation (Rule 31): Any change in legal representation now requires approval from the tribunal, particularly where this may affect the tribunal’s composition or the finality of the award. This change mirrors the recently updated SIAC Rules 2025 (see our firm’s analysis of these Rules here). 
• Third-Party Funding (Rule 37): As is the position under various other prominent rules (for example, the SIAC and HKIAC rules), parties to MCIA arbitrations must now disclose third-party funding arrangements, including the funder’s identity and whether they have undertaken to bear adverse costs. 

Other Notable Amendments

• Same Nationality Arbitrator (Rule 10.5): The Council may appoint an arbitrator of the same nationality as a party if appropriate and if no party objects, offering flexibility in tribunal constitution.
• Delegation by Indian Courts (Rule 15.5): Where Indian courts delegate tribunal appointments to the MCIA, the MCIA will appoint substitute arbitrators under the 2025 Rules. 
• Good Faith (Rule 27.2): Parties are now under an express obligation to act in good faith for fair, efficient, and expeditious conduct of the arbitration.
• Remote Hearings (Rule 34.4): Tribunals may order remote hearings using technology, supporting international participation and reflecting post-pandemic realities.
• Publication of Awards (Rule 47): The MCIA can publish redacted versions of awards and decisions, subject to party objection, promoting transparency and the development of arbitral jurisprudence.
• Information Security (Rule 48): Parties may agree on, and tribunals may order, measures to protect information security, addressing growing concerns around data protection and the trend towards promoting information security followed by other institutions like the SIAC and the HKIAC. 
• Schedule of Fees and Model Clauses: The 2025 Rules include a schedule of fees and model clauses, including those providing for expedited procedures and the MCIA’s role as appointing authority in ad hoc arbitrations. 

Comment

The MCIA’s 2025 Rules reflect a global trend towards modernising and streamlining arbitration. New mechanisms for early dismissal, summary determination, and consolidated proceedings are likely to reduce time and cost, while the emphasis on information security and other emerging themes meets evolving stakeholder expectations. The focus on user needs, as well as important principles such as efficiency, flexibility, and transparency are reforms that also appear in recent rule revisions of other leading arbitral institutions. This reflects the common direction in which credible international institutions are moving, which is to provide a more tailored, time- and cost-effective dispute resolution mechanism whilst maintaining party autonomy and fairness. 

The MCIA’s growing international caseload and the introduction of these rules may encourage more Indian parties to select the MCIA for their arbitrations. The timing of the 2025 Rules is also significant as it coincides with the introduction of the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill 2024 and the launch of the Arbitration Bar of India. As ever, we will watch this space for more evidence of the effectiveness of the 2025 Rules as a matter of practice.