International organisations and stakeholders like United Nations, United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), European Union Commission (EU Commission), World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), World Trade Organisation (WTO), etc have been stressing hard on the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) for resolving various disputes.However there is no bridge between EU Commission and India in this regard. Thanks to the initiatives of Perry4Law and Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) that ODR Policy of India and Technology Dispute Resolution Policy of India has finally been suggested.
Now EU Commission has considered use of ADR and ODR for Cross Border Consumer Disputes. As far as India is concerned, Cross Border Dispute Resolution, especially Cross Border Technology Transactions Dispute Resolution, is still at the infancy stage.
Even the basic level ODR in India is facing sever legal roadblocks. There is no Dedicated Legal Framework for ODR in India, informs Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based ICT law firm Perry4Law and CEO of exclusive techno legal ODR service provider centre of India. Even the Arbitration and conciliation Act 1996 needs urgent Amendments so that it may not contribute for further increase in backlog of cases in India, suggests Dalal.
EU has been working in the direction of use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for effective Dispute Resolution and it must work in association with countries like India in this regard, suggests Dalal. There is an urgent need of EU India ODR Development Dialogue, suggests Dalal.
Even the Law Ministry of India in general and Veerappa Moily in particular must seriously consider changing the ADR and ODR environment of India. The present legal and judicial setup of India is not conducive for the same.
