Fee and Refund Policy

This policy explains how Standing Lawyers sets, invoices and revises fees, which arrangements we are not permitted to offer, and what happens to money already paid when work does not proceed or ends early.

Where the engagement letter for a matter says something different, the engagement letter governs.

1. How we charge

1.1 The search and assessment carries no fee. Before anything is agreed we search what is publicly searchable, read it against the documents you hold, and give you a written view of what appears to exist and what claiming it would involve. There is nothing to pay for that, whether or not you go on to instruct us, and nothing to pay if the answer is that you can make the claim yourself.

1.2 A fixed fee is the ordinary arrangement for a single claim with an identifiable end, such as one claim to the Investor Education and Protection Fund, one transmission, one duplicate securities request or one claim to an insurer. The fee, the scope and what would take the matter outside it are agreed in writing before work begins, and the fee does not change because a registrar or an authority took longer than expected.

1.3 A mandate fee applies where a matter runs across several institutions, several assets or several years, or where a business instructs us on a debtor ledger. It is quoted against the work the file actually needs once the assessment has shown what that is, and the engagement letter records how and when it is invoiced.

1.4 Stage fees apply to contentious matters, which are billed by reference to identified stages, because the course of a proceeding is not within anyone's control.

1.5 We do not bill by the hour as a matter of course, and in this practice that is a deliberate choice rather than a preference. A recovery matter is mostly waiting, punctuated by short bursts of work, and an hourly arrangement bills the bursts while telling you nothing in advance about how many there will be. Where an hourly rate is used for work outside an agreed scope, the rate is agreed in writing first.

2. What a fee includes, and what it does not

2.1 The engagement letter records the scope. A fee ordinarily covers the work described when it was set: the searches, the evidence, the claim, the correspondence with the institution, answering what is raised against the claim, and reporting to you.

2.2 Unless the engagement letter says otherwise, a fee does not include representation before any court, tribunal or authority, the fees of counsel briefed to appear, disbursements, an asset discovered after the assessment that was not part of what was quoted, or advice on the law of another jurisdiction.

2.3 The fee is payable for the work whether or not the claim succeeds. We would rather state that plainly than let it be discovered later. We are paid for assembling and pursuing a claim properly, and a claim that is properly made and refused has still taken the work. What we will not do is take a fee for a claim we told you was not worth making, or continue to charge on a matter we have advised you to stop.

3. Changes to the fee

3.1 Where the volume or character of the work turns out to differ materially from the assessment the fee was based on, we will tell you, explain what has changed, and agree a revision before doing the additional work. We will not present it afterwards as a surprise on an invoice.

3.2 A fee may otherwise be revised only on the notice stated in the engagement letter, and a revision does not apply to work already invoiced.

3.3 Where we have quoted an estimate rather than a fixed fee, the estimate is given in good faith on the information available and is not a cap unless it is expressed to be one.

4. Fee arrangements we do not offer

4.1 Certain arrangements are not open to an advocate in India. We set them out because clients reasonably ask, and because in this field the first of them is not a technicality: a great deal of unclaimed asset recovery in India is sold on a percentage of what is recovered, so a client comparing us with others is entitled to know why we do not quote that way and what it means for them:

• No contingency or success fee. Rule 20 of Chapter II of Part VI of the Bar Council of India Rules prohibits an advocate from stipulating for a fee contingent on the results of litigation, or agreeing to share the proceeds of it. We cannot act for a percentage of a recovery, an award or a transaction value, and an agreement to do so would be unenforceable.
• What that means for you, put plainly. You pay for the work and you keep all of what is recovered. Two consequences follow, and the second is the one worth weighing. A fee is payable even if the claim fails, which a percentage arrangement would not charge you. And we have no financial reason to keep a doubtful claim alive, to pursue an account that should be written off, or to stay quiet about a free route that would make us unnecessary. Where an adviser is paid out of your recovery, each of those runs the other way.
• No sharing of fees with anyone who is not an advocate. Rule 2 of the same Chapter prohibits it. We pay no referral fee, no commission and no introduction fee to any person, and we accept none. If someone suggests they can secure our services for a payment to them, it is not true and we would like to know about it.
• No acquisition of an interest in the subject matter. Rule 21 prohibits an advocate from buying or trafficking in, or stipulating for a share or interest in, an actionable claim, and Rule 22 prohibits bidding for or purchasing property sold in execution of a decree in a matter the advocate is engaged in. We take no interest in the subject matter of a matter we act on.
• No lending to clients. Rule 32 prohibits an advocate from lending money to a client for the purpose of an action or legal proceeding in which the advocate is engaged. We do not lend to clients.

5. The search and assessment, and what is free about it

5.1 The assessment is free and it is real work. It is not a sales meeting with a quotation at the end. We run the searches that apply to your matter, read the result against the documents you hold, and give you a written view: what appears to exist, what would have to be proved, what is likely to be difficult, and roughly how long it takes.

5.2 The view is yours whether or not you instruct us. If it tells you that you can make the claim yourself through a free route, that is the answer and there is nothing to pay. If it tells you there appears to be nothing to recover, that is also the answer, and we would rather have spent an afternoon telling you so than a year telling you slowly.

5.3 The assessment reduces no professional obligation we owe. The same duties of care and confidentiality apply to it, and the conflict of interest check described in our Confidentiality and Conflict of Interest Policy is completed before it begins.

5.4 The client due diligence in our Anti-Money Laundering and Client Due Diligence Policy, including the verification of entitlement in clause 4A of that policy, is completed before an engagement begins rather than before an assessment. An assessment tells you what appears to exist; it is not authority for us to act on an asset, and we do not correspond with any institution about you during it.

5.5 Its boundary is agreed in writing before it starts, because work without a fee still needs a defined edge. Either side may end it at any time and without giving a reason. Any disbursement actually incurred during it is payable, since a disbursement is money paid to a third party rather than our fee, and we will ask before incurring one.

5.6 Where we limit the number of assessments we take on at a time, or stop taking them, that does not affect an assessment already begun or a mandate already agreed.

6. Disbursements

6.1 Disbursements are amounts paid to third parties on your behalf. In this practice they most often are: stamp paper for an indemnity bond or affidavit, notarisation, the cost of a newspaper advertisement where the value of a holding requires one, registrar and transfer agent service charges, depository charges on dematerialisation, court and registry fees on a succession application, apostille or consular attestation for a claimant outside India, certified copies, the fees of counsel or a local agent, courier of original documents, and travel. They are additional to fees and are charged at cost, without any mark-up.

6.2 We may ask for a disbursement to be put in funds before it is incurred, and we are not obliged to incur one on your behalf out of our own funds.

7. Taxes

7.1 Fees are exclusive of taxes, which are payable in addition as applicable.

7.2 Legal services supplied by an individual advocate to a business entity in India are ordinarily taxable on a reverse charge basis under Notification No. 13/2017-Central Tax (Rate), meaning that the recipient of the service accounts for the tax rather than the advocate charging it. Our invoices are issued on that footing and do not add goods and services tax.

7.3 Separately, legal services supplied by an advocate are exempt altogether where they are supplied to another advocate or firm of advocates, to a person other than a business entity, or to a business entity whose aggregate turnover in the preceding financial year did not exceed the threshold specified in Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate). Where that exemption applies, no tax is payable by anyone on the engagement.

7.4 Whether and at what rate you are liable to account for tax on our fees depends on your own registration, turnover and circumstances, and you should take your own advice on it. Tax deducted at source, where applicable, should be deducted at the rate the Income-tax Act, 2025 prescribes and the certificate provided.

8. Payment, and the restriction on cash

8.1 Fees are payable by banking channel to the account identified on the invoice. We will not notify a change of bank details by email alone, and clause 10.2 of our Terms of Engagement explains what to do if you receive a communication that appears to do so.

8.2 We do not accept cash in an amount that would contravene section 186 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, which replaced section 269ST of the Income-tax Act, 1961 with effect from 1 April 2026 and carries the same restriction forward. It prohibits the receipt of two hundred thousand rupees or more otherwise than through banking or prescribed electronic channels, whether taken from one person in a day, in respect of a single transaction, or in respect of transactions relating to one event or occasion. A receipt in contravention attracts a penalty equal to the amount received.

8.3 Invoices are payable within the period stated on them. Where an invoice is disputed, tell us promptly and identify the item disputed, so the undisputed balance can be paid while the rest is resolved.

8.4 Where an invoice remains unpaid after reasonable notice, we may suspend work or cease to act, in accordance with clause 13.2 of our Terms of Engagement and with our professional obligations. We will not do so in a way that prejudices a client's position in a pending proceeding without taking the steps professional rules require.

9. Refunds

9.1 Consultation fees. If you cancel at least twenty-four hours before the scheduled time, the fee is refunded in full or the meeting is rescheduled, as you prefer. Cancellation within twenty-four hours, and non-attendance, are not refunded, because the time is no longer recoverable. If we cancel or reschedule, you receive a full refund or a rescheduled meeting at your election. Where you instruct us on further work within thirty days of the consultation, the fee is credited against it.

9.2 Fixed-fee work. Where an engagement ends before completion, we refund so much of any advance as exceeds the value of the work carried out, calculated by reference to the proportion of the agreed scope completed. Where we are unable to complete the work for a reason not attributable to the client, any advance referable to the unperformed part is refunded in full.

9.3 Monthly retainers. A retainer is invoiced in advance for the coming month. A month already begun is not refundable, because capacity has been reserved and is no longer available to another client. Where a retainer ends part way through a period for which more than one month has been paid, the unstarted months are refunded in full.

9.4 Contentious matters. Where a matter concludes, settles or is withdrawn before a billed stage is complete, we bill for the work done to that point and refund the balance of any advance held for that stage.

9.5 Disbursements. Amounts already paid to a third party are refundable only to the extent that the third party refunds them. Amounts held but not yet spent are refunded in full.

9.6 Where we are at fault. If a complaint under our Grievance Redressal Policy establishes that work was not done, was not done properly, or was charged for twice, we correct the invoice or refund the amount, and we do so whether or not a refund was requested.

10. Requesting a refund

10.1 Write to work@standinglawyers.com identifying the matter, the payment and the reason. We will respond within seven business days.

10.2 An agreed refund is made by the route the original payment came by, within fourteen business days of the agreement, unless that route is unavailable, in which case we will agree another with you.

10.3 If we do not agree that a refund is due, we will say so in writing with reasons, and you may take the matter through our Grievance Redressal Policy.

Effect, review and contact

A This policy takes effect on 7 August 2026 and replaces any earlier version of it published on this website. The version published here is the operative version at any given time.

B We review this policy at least once a year, and additionally whenever the law, our systems or our practice changes in a way that affects it. Where a change is material we will say so on this page and, where the change concerns personal data and we hold a means of reaching you, we will tell you directly.

C Questions about this policy, and any request or complaint arising from it, should be sent to work@standinglawyers.com, marked for the attention of the Grievance Officer where it is a complaint. We can also be reached on +91 63766 28978.