European Commission publicises link to new online dispute resolution platform

The platform will be operational from 15 February 2016, although it is already open to alternative dispute resolution bodies to "sign up and familiarise themselves with", the Commission said.

"The platform will allow consumers and traders to settle their online disputes at the click of a mouse, both for domestic and cross-border purchases, without the need to go through lengthy and costly court proceedings," the Commission said.

EU businesses that sell goods or services online to consumers, as well as online marketplaces, are obliged to provide a link to the ODR platform on their websites. The link must be "easily accessible for consumers" under the terms of the EU's ODR regulation.

The ODR rules supplement other EU reforms on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) which came into force in October 2015 and are aimed at ensuring more disputes are resolved before selected 'ADR approved bodies' than the courts.

Businesses operating outside of regulated sectors are not obliged to engage with the ADR scheme under the rules but they are required to tell consumers about the existence of ADR schemes and whether they intend to use them.

Where businesses are committed to or opt-in to the new dispute resolution regime the ODR regulation requires them to "inform consumers about the existence of the ODR platform and the possibility of using the ODR platform for resolving their disputes".

Specialist in IT disputes resolution David McIlwaine of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that ODR "is a very positive development" which can "promote cross-border trading". This is because it will give consumers "greater confidence that if they have issues with their supplier they can seek to resolve them quicker and cheaper than having to go through national courts". He said that ODR can help open up new markets to traders as they can also "have greater confidence that issues can be resolved more readily".

However, McIlwaine said he was unsure whether businesses are prepared for what the availability of ODR might mean for them.

"There may well be a tidal wave of matters being referred – do suppliers have the back office infrastructure and resources to deal with what could be an inundation of claims?" he said.

In a factsheet on the ODR regime (3-page / 365KB PDF) the Commission said that the new platform is "user-friendly, multilingual and accessible to all".

"Everything is done in four, simple steps: The consumer fills in an online complaint form and submits it. The complaint is sent to the relevant trader, who proposes an ADR entity to the consumer. Once consumer and trader agree on an ADR entity to handle their dispute, the EU ODR platform transfers automatically the complaint to that entity. The ADR entity handles the case entirely online and reaches an outcome in 90 days," it said.

EU justice commissioner Věra Jourová said she believes the new ODR platform "will be widely used to solve consumer grievances".