DoCA hosts roundtable conference on dispute resolution platform for consumer cross-border e-commerce space

2023-10-27 16:53:07

The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) on Friday organised a roundtable conference on effectively framing a global Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform for the cross-border e-commerce sector. The roundtable conference focused on issues regarding the resolution of consumer cross-border e-commerce disputes, added an official statement.

Stakeholders from various countries attended the conference virtually including Teressa Moreira, Consumer and Competition Head, UNCTAD, Hugh Stevenson, Deputy Director, Federal Trade Commission USA and Andrew Hadley, Assistant Director Policy and International, United Kingdom Competition Markets Authority.

Addressing the conference, Consumer Affairs Ministry Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said that since e-commerce platforms have become an integral part of consumers’ lives, ensuring a seamless and effective dispute-resolution mechanism is paramount. “We should make use of the strength of technology that India is offering today. Rising cross-border e-commerce has led to diverse disputes (e.g. payments, deliveries, quality) and given the lack of a clear legal framework and awareness among various stakeholders of avenues for resolving such disputes, ODR can become a convenient and effective solution,” he added.

Major challenges

Globally, cross-border e-commerce shipments accounted for 22 per cent of total e-commerce shipments. Nearly 26 per cent cross-border proportion of total e-commerce is in India.

“DoCA is committed to ensuring that its ODR mechanism is not just a legal formality but a dynamic and effective tool for resolving disputes. Discussions on major challenges in framing the global ODR platform like cross-border jurisdictional issues, enforceability of settlement agreements, language, technology supports, privacy and data protection, fees, funding, cost sharing, awareness and training were held,” the official statement added.

The stakeholders defined key elements for developing a robust cross-border ODR mechanism. These included defining the purview, scope and users of the ODR platform for cross-border disputes besides legal pre-requisites and procedures among others.