| Bailment has been defined under section 148 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872. |
Pledge has been defined under section 172 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872. |
| Bailment is one of the types of contract. |
Pledge is a subset of the bailment. |
| Bailment is defined as ‘A bailment is a contract in which one person transfers goods to another person with a contract that he will return the goods after completion of the purpose for which contract takes place.’ |
Pledge is defined as ‘the pawnor transfer/bailed his goods to the Pawnee as security against the amount he takes from the Pawnee.’ |
| The person who delivers the bailed goods is referred to as a bailor and the person who receives the goods is referred to as a bailee. |
The person who provides pledged goods to the other person is called a pawnor and the person who receives the sold goods is called a pawnee. |
| In the contract of bailment, the consideration is not mandatory. |
In the contract of pledge, consideration is mandatory. |
| In bailment, the bailee is authorized to sell the bailed goods. |
In pledge, the pawnee has the right to sell the pledged goods in the event of default. |
| The bailee has the right to the authorized users of the bailed goods. |
The pawnee has not any right to use the pledged goods. |
| Contract of bailment is nothing but the term used to describe the transfer of goods from one person to another for specific reasons. |
A contract of the pledge is the act of transferring goods from one person to another as security for debt repayment. |
| The bailment can be for a variety of purposes from reward to gratuity. |
The pledge is a type of bailment used to secure the debt or fulfil the promise. |
| The bailee receives merely a lien on the bailed goods. |
The pawnee receives a lien on the pledged goods and in addition, the pawnee obtains a retainer and a particular interest over the promised goods. |
| The bailee is not accountable for the bailed goods’ loss, destruction or degradation if the bailee uses them with reasonable care. |
The pawnee is solely liable for the pledged goods’ maintenance |
| Illustration: A and B are the neighbours. One fine day A gave his jewellery to B to keep it safe because A is going out of town for some days. B return A’s jewellery to A when he came back. Here there is no benefit for B in keeping those goods i.e. B does not get anything in return. |
Illustration: A lend Rs. 1,000/- and gave his bicycle as security for repayment in the condition that if A repays the amount B will return the bicycle. |
