Qualified duties are those which depend upon the contract between the partners and it is only in the absence of a contract to the contrary that these duties, as laid down by the Partnership Act, are applicable.
In other words, the partners are free to vary these duties by mutual agreement, express or implied, and if the partnership agreement is silent then only the duties contained in the Partnership Act will be the duties of the partners. Subject to contract between the partners, the Partnership Act prescribes the following duties of partner’s inter-se:
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ADVERTISEMENTS:
1. Duty to attend diligently to his duties [Sec. 12 (b)]:
Every partner is bound to attend diligently to his duties in the conduct of the business.
2. Duty to work without remuneration [Sec. 13 (a)]:
A partner is not entitled to receive remuneration for taking part in the conduct of the business.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
3. Duty to contribute to the losses [Sec. 13 (b)]:
The partners are bound to contribute equally to the losses sustained by the firm, irrespective of the amount of capital contribution by each one of them.
4. Duty to indemnify for willful neglect [Sec. 13 (f)]:
Every partner is under a duty to indemnify the firm for any loss caused to it by his wilful neglect in the conduct of the business of the firm. The expression ‘wilful neglect’ means the failure to perform a duty, or to do something which a partner ought to have done, intentionally and deliberately. An act done in good faith and bonafide or a mere error of judgment cannot be termed as wilful neglect.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
5. Duty to use firm’s property exclusively for the firm (Sec. 15):
It is the duty of every partner to use the property of the firm exclusively for the purposes of the business. No partner should use partnership property for his personal benefit.
6. Duty to account for personal profits derived [Sec. 16 (a)]:
If a partner derives any profit for him from any transaction of the firm or from the use of the property or business connection of the firm or the firm name, he must account for that profit and pay it back to the firm.
7. Duty not to compete with the business of the firm [Sec. 16 (b)]:
A partner must not carry on any business which is similar to or likely to compete with the business of the firm. If he does that, he is bound to account for and pay to the firm all profits made by him in that business, partner may, however, carry on a non-competing business and may retain the profits of that business to himself.