E-commerce has changed the way people buy goods, but it sometimes comes with hidden surprises in the form of wrong orders or damaged goods landing at the buyer’s doorstep.
Now, there is some help at hand for customers who are unable to find an amicable resolution to disputes. The National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, is set to launch an Online Consumer Mediation Centre (OCMC) to help such customers get a remedy, for a fee of Rs.100.
In the initial stage, the centre will encourage a dialogue between customers and e-commerce companies via text-based negotiation on a tailor-made platform on the centre’s website.
The initiative, which is funded by the Centre’s Department of Consumer Affairs, will be launched on December 24 — National Consumer Rights Day.
Ashok R. Patil, Director, OCMC, said the aim is to support consumer redress by providing a platform that is quick, transparent, effective and enabling fair settlement of disputes. Its tag line is ‘Anytime, Anywhere Dispute Resolution’.
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Customers can register their grievance online, after which the centre’s platform can be used to chat with the trader. Documents and relevant files can be uploaded, said Krishna Bharadwaj, the mediator at the centre.
“The consumer should mention whether she wants a full or partial refund, or replacement of product. If the dispute is not resolved after a week, a neutral mediator will be appointed. Both consumers and company representatives can chat only with the mediator or chat together with the mediator in a chat window,” said Mr. Bharadwaj. The mediators are professionally trained.
After the consumer and the company resolve the dispute, they will have to sign a settlement agreement, Prof. Patil said. “This method is pre-litigation mediation. However, even midway through the process, they can opt out,” he said.
Prof. Patil sees the process helping tech-savvy consumers as it is hassle- free. “Currently, a majority of the consumers do not approach redress forums as they feel it is time-consuming or that they may not get good compensation. We hope that this will change with our software,” he said.
Letters have been sent from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, encouraging e-commerce companies to enter into an agreement with OCMC.
