To serve a legal notice by registered post you write the notice, address it to the right place — the registered office of a company, the last known address of a person, or the address fixed in the agreement — and post it by registered post with acknowledgement due from a post office. Keep the postal receipt and the acknowledgement card. Service is treated as complete once the notice is correctly addressed, stamped and posted, even if the other side refuses delivery or never collects it.
The order below is the one that survives challenge later, in a recovery suit or in a cheque-bounce case: fix the address, then dispatch, then preserve the proof.
Before you start
Collect these before you draft anything, because a notice sent to the wrong person or for the wrong amount is the commonest reason a claim is lost at the door.
- The correct legal name and full address of the person, firm or company you are writing to. For a company, use the registered office as it stands on the records of the Registrar of Companies, not a branch or a marketing address.
- The document that proves the amount claimed — the agreement, invoice, ledger or statement — and the date from which it is due.
- The correct date of default or cause of action, because limitation for the suit runs from it.
- A clean signed copy of the notice, on your or your advocate's letterhead, with the date visible.
If the other side is a partnership firm or a company, decide now whether you will also mark the notice to the partners or directors personally. A notice to a company alone sometimes invites the reply that the individual was never told.
Steps
- Fix the address first. Write the registered office, the last known address, or the address named in the agreement. If the party has moved, address the notice to both the old and the new address, so the file shows you tried every place the law expects.
- State the demand and the period. Set out what is due, why it is due, and what you want done and by when. Where the claim is on a dishonoured cheque, note that Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881 gives the drawer fifteen days from receipt to pay.
- Post it by registered post with acknowledgement due. Ask the post office specifically for registered post with AD, so that the signed card is returned to you. Ordinary post or a private courier weakens the proof of service.
- Keep the postal receipt and the article number. The receipt carries the date of posting, the address as entered, and the article number. Write that number on your office copy of the notice so the two can be matched.
- Track the delivery. Either the acknowledgement card comes back signed, or the track report shows refusal or non-collection. Either record is your proof.
- If it comes back refused or unclaimed. The law treats service as complete where the addressee refuses the letter or avoids collecting it. Keep the returned cover unopened, with the postal endorsement intact, and do not tear off the stamps.
- If it comes back undelivered for a wrong or incomplete address. Correct the address and post again. A returned notice with a wrong address proves nothing, because the presumption attaches only to a properly addressed and prepaid letter.
Documents to keep
- The office copy of the notice, signed and dated.
- The postal receipt showing the article number and the date of posting.
- The signed acknowledgement card, or the returned cover with the endorsement of refusal or non-collection.
- The track-and-trace printout from the post office.
- The proof of the amount claimed — agreement, invoice or ledger.
What goes wrong
- Sending by ordinary post or courier with no acknowledgement, which turns service into a disputed question of fact.
- Addressing a company at a branch office; the registered office is what the law looks to.
- Leaving the notice unsigned or undated, or leaving the amount and the period vague.
- Posting only when limitation is nearly over, so that even a valid notice cannot save the claim.
- Discarding the acknowledgement card once the notice is received, and then having nothing to prove the date.
Common questions
Is email service as good as registered post?
Email is valid when the parties agreed to it or the contract names an email address, and Section 13 of the Information Technology Act 2000 gives electronic records legal recognition. But email leaves no signed acknowledgement, so courts generally prefer registered post with AD as the primary mode and email as a supporting one.
What if the addressee refuses to accept the registered letter?
Refusal does not defeat service. Section 27 of the General Clauses Act 1897 presumes service where the notice is correctly addressed and posted, and the returning cover with the postal endorsement is the proof.
Do I have to send a second notice if the first comes back unclaimed?
If the address was correct, no — unclaimed is treated much like refused. If the address was wrong or incomplete, correct it and send again, because the presumption only attaches to a properly addressed letter.
Should the notice come from me or from an advocate?
Either works, but a notice on an advocate's letterhead is taken more seriously and is drafted so the demand, the default and the period are all on record. See our legal notice drafting and recovery notice services, or the samples in our civil litigation formats.
FileX Advocates & Legal Consultants, Kolkata, handles these matters before the Calcutta High Court, the City Civil and Sessions courts, magistrate, and the civil and execution courts. Call +91 7439811422 or WhatsApp us for a free first consultation.