Offer (Proposal)

Section 2(a) of the Act defines a proposal (offer) as: "When one person signifies to another his willingness to do or to abstain from doing anything, with a view to obtaining the assent of that other to such act or abstinence, he is said to make a proposal." The person making the offer is the offeror (promisor); the person to whom it is made is the offeree.

Rules governing a valid offer:

• The offer must be made with the intention of creating legal relations, not just an expression of intention or a statement made in jest.
• Its terms must be clear, definite and certain, not vague.
• It must be communicated to the offeree — an offer unknown to the offeree cannot be accepted.
• It is different from an invitation to offer (e.g. goods displayed in a shop window with a price tag, an advertisement, a menu card, or a tender notice) — these merely invite others to make an offer; the shopkeeper is free to accept or reject the customer's resulting offer to buy.
• A counter-offer by the offeree (varying any term) rejects the original offer and itself becomes a fresh offer.
• A cross offer (identical offers made by two parties to each other, in ignorance of each other's offer) does not result in a contract, because neither is an acceptance of the other.
• An offer may be general (made to the public at large, capable of being accepted by anyone who performs the stated condition) or specific (made to a particular, ascertained person). …