Section 229 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
If a notice is given to your agent, or your agent learns something while doing your business, do you count as having been told? Section 229 says yes, provided it was given or obtained in the course of the business transacted by the agent for the principal. As between the principal and third parties, the consequences are the same as if the principal himself had received it.
Any notice given to or information obtained by the agent, provided it is given or obtained in the course of the business transacted by him for the principal, has, as between the principal and third parties, the same legal consequences as if it had been given to or obtained by the principal (s.229). The Act's illustrations contrast an agent who learns a fact in the course of the negotiation (the principal is affected) and one who learned it before his employment (the principal is not, in the Act's example).
The text
"Any notice given to or information obtained by the agent, provided it be given or obtained in the course of the business transacted by him for the principal, shall, as between the principal and third parties, have the same legal consequences as if it had been given to or obtained by the principal."
The elements
| Element | Words |
|---|---|
| What counts | "Any notice given to or information obtained by the agent" |
| The condition | "provided it be given or obtained in the course of the business transacted by him for the principal" |
| Between whom | "as between the principal and third parties" |
| The consequence | "the same legal consequences as if it had been given to or obtained by the principal" |
Two features stand out. First, the section covers both a notice given to the agent and information obtained by him. Second, the condition is that it was given or obtained in the course of the business he transacts for the principal. The section does not say that anything an agent knows at any time is imputed to the principal. It sits beside section 226, which treats an agent's contracts as the principal's, and sections 227 and 228, which deal with an agent who goes beyond authority.
If you need to send a notice that will reach a business through its agent, a legal notice drafting adviser can help you address and deliver it so that section 229 is satisfied.
The Act's own illustrations
(a) A is employed by B to buy from C certain goods, of which C is the apparent owner, and buys them accordingly. In the course of the treaty for the sale, A learns that the goods really belonged to D, but B is ignorant of that fact. B is not entitled to set off a debt owing to him from C against the price of the goods.
(b) A is employed by B to buy from C goods of which C is the apparent owner. A was, before he was so employed, a servant of C, and then learnt that the goods really belonged to D, but B is ignorant of that fact. In spite of the knowledge of his agent, B may set off against the price a debt owing to him from C.
The two illustrations differ on one fact: when A learned the truth. In (a) he learned it "in the course of the treaty for the sale", so the information was obtained in the course of the business transacted for the principal, and B is treated as knowing it; B cannot set off his debt from C. In (b) A learned it earlier, as C's servant, before being employed by B. It was not obtained in the course of B's business, so B may set off.
A modern example (ours, not the Act's)
Menon Builders employs Fatima, a site agent, to buy cement from a dealer, Rajan Supplies. During the negotiations, in the course of the purchase, Fatima is told by Rajan's clerk that the stock in the godown actually belongs to another firm, Orion Traders, and that Rajan has no right to sell it. Menon Builders, which is in the dark, owes Rajan an old sum and wants to set it off against the price. Under section 229, the information obtained by Fatima in the course of the business transacted for Menon has the same legal consequences as if Menon had obtained it. As in illustration (a), Menon is not entitled to set off.
If Fatima had learned the same fact two years earlier while working in Rajan's godown and before Menon employed her, the information was not obtained in the course of Menon's business. On the reasoning of illustration (b), Menon may still set off.
What can the parties change?
Section 229 describes consequences "as between the principal and third parties". A contract between principal and agent cannot change what third parties may rely on. A contract with a third party might provide how notices are to be given, for instance to a named address or person; the text of section 229 does not address such a clause. A careful principal can state in the agency contract what information the agent must pass on and when, so that the principal is not caught by information he never received.
Practical points
- Principals: require your agents to report notices and important information promptly; the law may treat you as knowing what they learn in your business.
- Agents: pass on what you learn in the course of the principal's business.
- Senders of notices: address notices to the right person and keep proof; delivery to the agent in the course of his business has the consequences section 229 describes.
- Remember the condition: information from outside the principal's business (before employment, for instance) may not be treated the same way.
Need help sending a notice to a business or its agent?
Our legal notice drafting service can help you prepare a notice and decide to whom it should be addressed, so that its consequences are clear. Other laws may also prescribe how some notices must be given.
Key takeaways
- Notice given to, or information obtained by, an agent in the course of business transacted for the principal has the same legal consequences as if given to or obtained by the principal (s.229).
- The condition is "in the course of the business transacted by him for the principal".
- The Act's illustrations: knowledge gained in the negotiation affects the principal; knowledge from before employment does not, in the Act's example.
- The section is about the principal and third parties.
Read next
- Sections 227 and 228: principal bound when agent exceeds authority
- Section 230: agent cannot personally enforce or be bound by principal's contracts
- Section 226: enforcement and consequences of agent's contracts
Disclaimer: Based on the text of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 as consulted on 1 October 2026. Many questions under this Act turn on case law and on the wording of the particular contract, which this article does not cover. It is general information, not legal advice; check the official text and take advice before acting.