PURCHASE ONLINE: ACTIVE ODR PLATFORM OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 

Since February 15, 2016 has officially activated the ODR platform (Online Dispute Resolution), the web portal created by the European Union and made available to resident consumers and businesses established in the Community. The platform, proposed by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU with the EU Regulation. 524/2013, was created to facilitate the extra-judicial resolution of disputes arising from contracts for the sale of goods or provision of services entered into online, with the objective of increasing the confidence of consumers and professionals in the digital market. 

HOW DOES IT WORK

Should a dispute arise relating to sales transactions or services made online, consumers and professionals can make a complaint by completing a simple electronic form, which will eventually also attach the documentation to support your claim itself. The ODR platform, available in all official languages ??of the EU institutions, will forward the complaint to the respondent and then will send it to one of mediation bodies enrolled in the portal where the parties have agreed to use. The body will manage the conciliation procedure quickly, impartially, fairly and transparently. The whole of the dispute settlement proceedings, then, can be managed online via the platform. In the case of parties belonging to different nationalities, the system also offers an e-translation service that allows the understanding of the information exchanged through the portal and necessary to the resolution of the dispute. 

THE ADVANTAGES 

The ODR is not intended to replace normal court procedures, but has some advantages that should lead consumers and Community professionals to prefer this new tool to manage their disputes. First of all, the speed: the process generally ends in 90 days, with an obvious saving of time compared to the normal judicial process. The costs are very competitive: the tariffs set by each organization are available on the ODR platform site and generally vary according to the claim. In any case, the cost to be incurred is lower than that provided for a court case.