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Following the Bofors sandal in the mid-1980s, all Indian defence contracts contain a clause stating that a company can be blacklisted and contracts cancelled if it uses middlemen.

In the case of the cancellation of Denel's existing contracts in India in 2005, the Indian defence advisor to South Africa, Captain (Indian Navy) Samir Advani in a letter to the African Armed Forces Journal in June 2005 stated that there was a "mandatory clause in the model contract... which provides for a declaration by the seller that neither has any agent been engaged nor any amount paid by him for facilitation of the contract and further, it also provides that the seller agrees that if it is established at any time to the satisfaction of the buyers that this declaration is incorrect, (the) seller will be liable to refund any amount paid as a gift, reward fee, commission or any such consideration to the buyer." Advani added that should anyone have wished to appoint an authorised representative or agent, the applicable rules were available on the Indian defence ministry's website and that the objectives of the guidelines were to ensure transparency.