The term proposal defined in Section 2(a) of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 states that when
one person signifies his willingness to do or abstain from doing something with a view to
obtain assent of another person is said to make a proposal. The term proposal as used in
Indian Contract Law is similar to the term offer as used in English law. An offer can be communicated to offeror by any act or omission by which the offeror intends to
communicate such offer. This is contained in Section 3 of the Act, 1872.

Section 9 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 talks about the Express offer and Implied Offer.
An offer would be an express offer if it made by words of mouth or by writing. Whereas an
offer would be implied if it is inferred by the conduct of the party.

An invitation to offer is an act before an offer, in which one person induces another person to make an offer to him. When appropriately responded by another party, an invitation to offer can result in the formation of a offer. An invitation to offer is made to inform the public, the terms and conditions on which a person may be interested in entering into a contract. It is not specifically defined in Indian Contract Act.

Following case laws will help to distinguish between offer and Invitation to offer.
1. In Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v. Boots Cash Chemist Ltd., it was held that if an intending buyer was willing to purchase the goods at a price mentioned on the tag, he could make an offer to buy the goods. The shopkeeper had the option to accept or reject the offer. The contract would arise only when the offer was accepted. No customer can force the shopkeeper to sell the product at the price mentioned in the tag.

2. The case of Mac Pherson1 v. Appanna is another example of invitation to treat. The plaintiff having already offered to pay Rs. 6,000 to the defendant for his property, again wrote to the defendant’s agent asking whether his offer has been accepted and also stating that he could even pay higher price if found reasonable. The reply from the defendant’s agent stated that he would not accept less than Rs. 10,000. The plaintiff then wrote that he is ready to pay the aforesaid amount. The plaintiff contended that the offer was accepted by him and sued for specific performance of the contract. It was held in this case that the letter from the defendant’s agent was not a counter offer but was a mere quotation amounting to invitation to offer. The
plaintiff’s willingness to pay the amount was an offer and since the same had not been accepted, there was no binding contract between them.

https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/2187/1/A1872-9.pdf
https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-offer-and-invitation-to-offer.html

Aishwarya Says:

I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.

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