Both ADR and ODR have commonalities , they are both seeded in collaborative dispute resolution mechanisms , both require equal participation of mediators and arbitrators and their interaction with the parties.
● Confidentiality is the touchstone of both ADR & ODR.
● Rules of evidence as imbibed in Evidence Act,1872 do not apply.
Online dispute resolution (ODR) is a branch of dispute resolution which uses technology to facilitate the resolution of disputes between parties. It primarily involves negotiation, mediation or arbitration, or combination of all three. In this respect it is often seen as being the online equivalent of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). However, ODR can also augment these traditional means of resolving disputes by applying innovative techniques and online technologies to the process.
Alternative dispute resolution - An independent third party mediates a dispute between a business and a consumer
● Dispute resolved by mediation provider.
● Online dispute resolution -New EU platform which went live on 15th Feb, 2016 in which trader solves the dispute.
● Online submission of the complaint .
● It is a website - ODR is online version of ADR.
National Center For Technology And Dispute Resolution, Standards Of Practice: It supports and sustains the development of information technology applications, institutional resources, and theoretical and applied knowledge for better understanding and managing conflict. It believes that networked informational technology can be uniquely leveraged to expand and improve conflict management resources and expertise.
Being at the beginning of understanding how individuals separated by great physical, cultural or technological distances can utilize resources and expertise virtually. Online environment as a 'place' where powerful tools like. ADR/ODR will be available for working to find solutions to many forms of offline/online conflicts.
● US federal trade commission (FTC) created in 1914 to prevent unfair methods of competition in commerce as part of the battle to “bust the trust.” FTC is working to protect consumers by preventing anticompetitive ,deceptive, and unfair business practices, enhancing informed consumer choice and public understanding of the competitive process, and accomplishing this without unduly burdening legitimate business activity.
● FTC engages with competition and consumer protection agencies in various countries, directly and through international networks, to halt deceptive and anticompetitive business practices.
The FTC’s office of international affairs directs the agency’s activities for competition and consumer protection- • Strengthening relationships • Developing formal and informal arrangements and agreements • Engaging in cooperative dialogues and submitting reports at forums • Helping agencies to enhance and develop competition. • Sharing information with foreign law. • Maintaining an international fellow program.
● The Canadian Working Group On Electronic Commerce And Consumers Consumer Measures Committee (CMC) was created under the spirit of cooperation and to improve efficiency on the consumer front. This committee is also called the Canadian Working Group On Electronic Commerce And Consumers. CMC has developed a Cooperative Enforcement agreement, which facilitates information exchanges among consumer protection agencies when they are carrying out investigations.
● Its Consumer awareness committee is responsible for investigating, developing and promoting information products for consumers. The committee also provides communications support for the work of the other working groups of the CMC, such as the Identity Theft Checklist.
CMC has so far completed harmonization agreements on: • Direct seller regulation • Cost of credit disclosure • Upholstered and stuffed articles measures • Internet sales contracts • Prohibited collection practices
Australian National Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisory Council (NADRAC), Established in 1995, NADRC was an independent body that provided policy about alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to the Attorney-General of Australia. It provided expert policy advice to the Attorney-General on the development of ADR and promoted the use of alternative dispute management.
● The body concluded its work following the government decision to simplify and streamline government business. NADRC made substantial contributions to the development and promotion of ADR in Australia, publishing reports and papers on the topic.
Global Business And Electronic Commerce (GBDE) -The interconnectivity of the society creates a need for new governance. Decision making process was different from how it was in the past. It needs to focus on a new paradigm and make proper changes. ¡ It's time that politics and the economy realizes that the new information network changes everything. Companies like Facebook and Google have already shown that there needs to be some authority which can take transparent measures for consumer protection. Nations and business giants need to come together to formulate and provide implementation of multinational law.
Consumers International - Consumers International, formerly known as the international organization of consumers union (IOCU), was started in 1960 by a group of five consumer organizations from the US, western Europe and Australia. Consumer international is the membership organization for consumer groups around the world. They believe in a world where everyone has access to safe and sustainable goods and services. It brings together over 200 member organizations in more than 100 countries to empower and champion the rights of consumers everywhere.
● In recent decades consumer protection has improved in many countries. Many consumers still lack basic protections and as the world has globalized and digitized, changes to the global marketplace are outpacing consumer protection. Too often consumers are left at a disadvantage with the companies and governments they encounter, leaving them exposed to unsafe, unfair or unethical practices. ¡ Consumers international wants to ensure that the voice of consumers is as powerful as the governments and corporations they interact with. Achieving this will ensure everyone can realize the benefits of our increasingly globalized and digital world.
● The European Consumers Organization (BEUC) - BEUC was created on 6 March 1962 by consumer organizations of Belgium, Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. It acts as the umbrella group in Brussels for its member organizations and its main task is to represent them at European level and defend the interests of all Europe’s consumers. BEUC investigates EU decisions and policy developments likely to affect consumers with a special focus on eight areas: Financial Services, Food, Digital Rights, Consumer Rights, Sustainability, Safety, Health and Energy.
● EUC is acknowledged as a trustworthy consumer representative by both decision- makers and other stakeholders alike. This is particularly due to the collective skills and knowledge of its experts as well as the ones of its member organizations who are in daily contact with European consumers. BEUC's prioritized topics are financial services; food; consumers’ rights & enforcement; digital rights; and sustainability. Additionally, BEUC works on energy, safety and health issues.
● International Chamber Of Commerce (ICC) ICC was founded in the aftermath of the first world war when no world system of rules governed trade, investment, finance or commercial relations. Without waiting for governments to fill the gap, ICC's founders acted on their conviction that the private sector is best qualified to set global standards for business. They called themselves 'The merchants of peace’.
● With a global network of over 6 million members in more than 100 countries, ICC works to promote international trade, responsible business conduct and a global approach to regulation through our unique mix of advocacy and standard settling activities - together with market leading dispute resolution services. They represent business interests at the highest levels of Intergovernmental decision-making, whether at the World Trade Organization, the United States or G20 ensuring the voice of business is heard.
● ICC specialize in world-class business and legal training and are an industry-leading publisher of practical tools for international business, banking and arbitration. So, from the small e-commerce start-up in Istanbul to the multinational software company in Delhi, businesses worldwide can benefit from ICC's rules and mechanism for the conduct of trade.
● American Bar Association (ABA). Founded in 1878, ABA has played a formative role in the development of the profession of law in the United States.
ABA is one of the world' largest voluntary professional organizations, with over 400,000 members. It is committed to improving the legal profession, eliminating bias and enhancing diversity, and advancing rule of law throughout the United States and the world. The Following are some major goals of ABA ¡ Provide benefits, programs and services which promote members' professional growth and quality of life.
● Promote competence, ethical conduct and professionalism.
● Eliminate bias in the legal profession and the justice system. ¡ Increase public understanding of and respect for the rule of low, the legal process, and the role of the legal profession.
● Holds the government accountable under law. Work for just laws including human rights, and for legal process.
● Promotes the highest quality legal education. Promotes public services by legal profession. Hold the government accountable under law. Assure meaningful access to justice to all persons. Preserve the independence of the legal profession and the judiciary.
Accessibility - ODR systems and processes effectively facilitate and do not limit the right to representation for parties in processes of dispute resolution. Accountability The development and implementation of ODR systems, processes and practices are accountable to the institutions, legal framework and communities that they serve.
Competence - ODR systems, processes and practitioners will be competent in or provide access to relevant technological or human competency required for the effective implementation of the dispute resolution process that they undertake to assist with.
Confidentiality - The development and implementation of ODR systems , processes and practitioners maintain confidentiality in accordance with all legal obligations, informed participation, security and transparency. Equality - ODR processes are designed and implemented in ways that treat all participants with respect and human dignity; that system design and processes enable silenced or marginalized voices to be heard and actively seek to ensure that privileges and disadvantages are not replicated in the experience of participation ; that no participant is placed at a higher risk than others; and therefore, that ODR processes are designed to respond effectively to the reality that some contexts may put some at more risk than others.
Fairness - ODR processes are designed and implemented to facilitate and uphold due process, without bias or benefits for or against individuals or groups, including those based on algorithms. They are responsive to and reflective of the communities they serve. ODR processes are designed and implemented with the intention that data is gathered, managed and presented in ways to ensure it is not misrepresented or presented out of context.
Impartiality - ODR processes are designed and implemented, and practitioners function with commitment to reducing bias in the delivery of the process. This includes accounting for technological and other conditions that could structure patterns of privilege in process and outcome for repeat players with particular attention to the principles of accessibility, fairness and transparency.
The ADR system has grown in several nations around the world in over a few years. This mechanism of resolving disputes is effectively cheaper and faster. It is efficient in settling disputes, providing greater access to justice, a voluntary system and involves local people. In ADR the situation is more of a win-win solution than on who is right and wrong. The ADR mechanism is still facing challenges whether to incorporate ADR methods as a legal statute. In the case of ODR the mechanism is a very useful one but it is not being used by the people so commonly as less people are aware about it. Moreover, it is not available in every country, also the people ought to have knowledge about the process of using the software and indulging into online activities of registering the complaint and then into communication with a third person who will offer a solution to the dispute or try to resolve the dispute. But both the mechanisms are growing and those who know about them are resorting to them as a means to get speedy justice and cheap resolution of their dispute.
Both ADR and ODR have commonalities , they are both seeded in collaborative dispute resolution mechanisms , both require equal participation of mediators and arbitrators and their interaction with the parties.
● Confidentiality is the touchstone of both ADR & ODR.
● Rules of evidence as imbibed in Evidence Act,1872 do not apply.
Online dispute resolution (ODR) is a branch of dispute resolution which uses technology to facilitate the resolution of disputes between parties. It primarily involves negotiation, mediation or arbitration, or combination of all three. In this respect it is often seen as being the online equivalent of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). However, ODR can also augment these traditional means of resolving disputes by applying innovative techniques and online technologies to the process.
Alternative dispute resolution - An independent third party mediates a dispute between a business and a consumer
● Dispute resolved by mediation provider.
● Online dispute resolution -New EU platform which went live on 15th Feb, 2016 in which trader solves the dispute.
● Online submission of the complaint .
● It is a website - ODR is online version of ADR.
National Center For Technology And Dispute Resolution, Standards Of Practice: It supports and sustains the development of information technology applications, institutional resources, and theoretical and applied knowledge for better understanding and managing conflict. It believes that networked informational technology can be uniquely leveraged to expand and improve conflict management resources and expertise.
Being at the beginning of understanding how individuals separated by great physical, cultural or technological distances can utilize resources and expertise virtually. Online environment as a 'place' where powerful tools like. ADR/ODR will be available for working to find solutions to many forms of offline/online conflicts.
● US federal trade commission (FTC) created in 1914 to prevent unfair methods of competition in commerce as part of the battle to “bust the trust.” FTC is working to protect consumers by preventing anticompetitive ,deceptive, and unfair business practices, enhancing informed consumer choice and public understanding of the competitive process, and accomplishing this without unduly burdening legitimate business activity.
● FTC engages with competition and consumer protection agencies in various countries, directly and through international networks, to halt deceptive and anticompetitive business practices.
The FTC’s office of international affairs directs the agency’s activities for competition and consumer protection-
• Strengthening relationships
• Developing formal and informal arrangements and agreements
• Engaging in cooperative dialogues and submitting reports at forums
• Helping agencies to enhance and develop competition.
• Sharing information with foreign law.
• Maintaining an international fellow program.
● The Canadian Working Group On Electronic Commerce And Consumers Consumer Measures Committee (CMC) was created under the spirit of cooperation and to improve efficiency on the consumer front. This committee is also called the Canadian Working Group On Electronic Commerce And Consumers. CMC has developed a Cooperative Enforcement agreement, which facilitates information exchanges among consumer protection agencies when they are carrying out investigations.
● Its Consumer awareness committee is responsible for investigating, developing and promoting information products for consumers. The committee also provides communications support for the work of the other working groups of the CMC, such as the Identity Theft Checklist.
CMC has so far completed harmonization agreements on:
• Direct seller regulation
• Cost of credit disclosure
• Upholstered and stuffed articles measures
• Internet sales contracts
• Prohibited collection practices
Australian National Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisory Council (NADRAC), Established in 1995, NADRC was an independent body that provided policy about alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to the Attorney-General of Australia. It provided expert policy advice to the Attorney-General on the development of ADR and promoted the use of alternative dispute management.
● The body concluded its work following the government decision to simplify and streamline government business. NADRC made substantial contributions to the development and promotion of ADR in Australia, publishing reports and papers on the topic.
Global Business And Electronic Commerce (GBDE) -The interconnectivity of the society creates a need for new governance. Decision making process was different from how it was in the past. It needs to focus on a new paradigm and make proper changes. ¡ It's time that politics and the economy realizes that the new information network changes everything. Companies like Facebook and Google have already shown that there needs to be some authority which can take transparent measures for consumer protection. Nations and business giants need to come together to formulate and provide implementation of multinational law.
Consumers International - Consumers International, formerly known as the international organization of consumers union (IOCU), was started in 1960 by a group of five consumer organizations from the US, western Europe and Australia. Consumer international is the membership organization for consumer groups around the world. They believe in a world where everyone has access to safe and sustainable goods and services. It brings together over 200 member organizations in more than 100 countries to empower and champion the rights of consumers everywhere.
● In recent decades consumer protection has improved in many countries. Many consumers still lack basic protections and as the world has globalized and digitized, changes to the global marketplace are outpacing consumer protection. Too often consumers are left at a disadvantage with the companies and governments they encounter, leaving them exposed to unsafe, unfair or unethical practices. ¡ Consumers international wants to ensure that the voice of consumers is as powerful as the governments and corporations they interact with. Achieving this will ensure everyone can realize the benefits of our increasingly globalized and digital world.
● The European Consumers Organization (BEUC) - BEUC was created on 6 March 1962 by consumer organizations of Belgium, Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. It acts as the umbrella group in Brussels for its member organizations and its main task is to represent them at European level and defend the interests of all Europe’s consumers. BEUC investigates EU decisions and policy developments likely to affect consumers with a special focus on eight areas: Financial Services, Food, Digital Rights, Consumer Rights, Sustainability, Safety, Health and Energy.
● EUC is acknowledged as a trustworthy consumer representative by both decision- makers and other stakeholders alike. This is particularly due to the collective skills and knowledge of its experts as well as the ones of its member organizations who are in daily contact with European consumers. BEUC's prioritized topics are financial services; food; consumers’ rights & enforcement; digital rights; and sustainability. Additionally, BEUC works on energy, safety and health issues.
● International Chamber Of Commerce (ICC) ICC was founded in the aftermath of the first world war when no world system of rules governed trade, investment, finance or commercial relations. Without waiting for governments to fill the gap, ICC's founders acted on their conviction that the private sector is best qualified to set global standards for business. They called themselves 'The merchants of peace’.
● With a global network of over 6 million members in more than 100 countries, ICC works to promote international trade, responsible business conduct and a global approach to regulation through our unique mix of advocacy and standard settling activities - together with market leading dispute resolution services. They represent business interests at the highest levels of Intergovernmental decision-making, whether at the World Trade Organization, the United States or G20 ensuring the voice of business is heard.
● ICC specialize in world-class business and legal training and are an industry-leading publisher of practical tools for international business, banking and arbitration. So, from the small e-commerce start-up in Istanbul to the multinational software company in Delhi, businesses worldwide can benefit from ICC's rules and mechanism for the conduct of trade.
● American Bar Association (ABA). Founded in 1878, ABA has played a formative role in the development of the profession of law in the United States.
ABA is one of the world' largest voluntary professional organizations, with over 400,000 members. It is committed to improving the legal profession, eliminating bias and enhancing diversity, and advancing rule of law throughout the United States and the world. The Following are some major goals of ABA ¡ Provide benefits, programs and services which promote members' professional growth and quality of life.
● Promote competence, ethical conduct and professionalism.
● Eliminate bias in the legal profession and the justice system. ¡ Increase public understanding of and respect for the rule of low, the legal process, and the role of the legal profession.
● Holds the government accountable under law. Work for just laws including human rights, and for legal process.
● Promotes the highest quality legal education. Promotes public services by legal profession. Hold the government accountable under law. Assure meaningful access to justice to all persons. Preserve the independence of the legal profession and the judiciary.
Accessibility - ODR systems and processes effectively facilitate and do not limit the right to representation for parties in processes of dispute resolution. Accountability The development and implementation of ODR systems, processes and practices are accountable to the institutions, legal framework and communities that they serve.
Competence - ODR systems, processes and practitioners will be competent in or provide access to relevant technological or human competency required for the effective implementation of the dispute resolution process that they undertake to assist with.
Confidentiality - The development and implementation of ODR systems , processes and practitioners maintain confidentiality in accordance with all legal obligations, informed participation, security and transparency. Equality - ODR processes are designed and implemented in ways that treat all participants with respect and human dignity; that system design and processes enable silenced or marginalized voices to be heard and actively seek to ensure that privileges and disadvantages are not replicated in the experience of participation ; that no participant is placed at a higher risk than others; and therefore, that ODR processes are designed to respond effectively to the reality that some contexts may put some at more risk than others.
Fairness - ODR processes are designed and implemented to facilitate and uphold due process, without bias or benefits for or against individuals or groups, including those based on algorithms. They are responsive to and reflective of the communities they serve. ODR processes are designed and implemented with the intention that data is gathered, managed and presented in ways to ensure it is not misrepresented or presented out of context.
Impartiality - ODR processes are designed and implemented, and practitioners function with commitment to reducing bias in the delivery of the process. This includes accounting for technological and other conditions that could structure patterns of privilege in process and outcome for repeat players with particular attention to the principles of accessibility, fairness and transparency.
The ADR system has grown in several nations around the world in over a few years. This mechanism of resolving disputes is effectively cheaper and faster. It is efficient in settling disputes, providing greater access to justice, a voluntary system and involves local people. In ADR the situation is more of a win-win solution than on who is right and wrong. The ADR mechanism is still facing challenges whether to incorporate ADR methods as a legal statute.
In the case of ODR the mechanism is a very useful one but it is not being used by the people so commonly as less people are aware about it. Moreover, it is not available in every country, also the people ought to have knowledge about the process of using the software and indulging into online activities of registering the complaint and then into communication with a third person who will offer a solution to the dispute or try to resolve the dispute. But both the mechanisms are growing and those who know about them are resorting to them as a means to get speedy justice and cheap resolution of their dispute.