NALSAR launches ODR Centre for Mediation to resolve consumer disputes

NALSAR University of Law launched the NALSAR ODR Centre for Mediation, which will take up consumer disputes referred for mediation by the Telangana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions across the State. The ODR Centre has the active support of the Telangana State Legal Services Authority and the High Court for the State of Telangana. The ODR Centre is working with Webnyay for providing technology for online hearings, case and document management.

The Centre was launched at a programme organised by the Telangana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in the presence of Justice P. Sam Koshy (Acting Chief Justice of the High Court for the State of Telangana and Executive Chairman of the Telangana State Legal Services Authority) and Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya (Judge of the High Court for the State of Telangana) on 7 November in Hyderabad.

Justice P. Sam Koshy, Acting Chief Justice of the High Court for the State of Telangana, said mediation had to become an integral part of the consumer justice system rather than a step parties discovered only after years before a commission.

“The time has come to consciously cultivate an institutional attitude where the message is, let us first mediate before we litigate. This is not a retreat from adjudication. It is an effort to reserve adjudication for those disputes which genuinely require an authoritative determination“, he said. He added that “The true success of consumer protection is not merely when a consumer wins a dispute. It is when a consumer obtains a fair remedy without having to spend years pursuing it.”

Justice Sam Koshy welcomed online mediation while cautioning against assuming access. “Online mediation can be particularly beneficial where parties are in different cities or in the remote corners of the State. But digital mediation must also account for persons who lack technological access or digital literacy. Convenience for one section must not become the exclusion of another,” he said.

Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya, Judge of the High Court for the State of Telangana, set out the procedural case for mediation in consumer matters and called for specific reforms to make it work in practice.

“A complaint is meant to be decided within three months, or five months where the goods require testing. Pendency figures show that cases run far longer than that cap. Mediation, by contrast, has a fixed outer limit. The Mediation Act of 2023 requires mediation to be completed within 120 days of the first appearance before the mediator, extendable by 60 days with the consent of the parties.” she said. She added “In most litigation, there is a stronger party and a weaker party, and that is measured not only by resources or the value of the dispute but by the kind of counsel a party can afford. Mediators must be trained to spot unequal bargaining power at the outset and keep the talks balanced.”

Justice G. Radha Rani, President of the Telangana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, said mediation had to be integrated into the daily functioning of the consumer commissions.

“Mediation is not about compromising justice. It is about achieving justice through a different and constructive approach” she said. She added “A consumer who receives a refund without years of litigation, an insurance claimant whose genuine claim is settled through dialogue, or a home buyer who reaches a mutually acceptable resolution with the builder may find greater satisfaction in that settlement than in a long drawn legal battle.”

Professor Srikrishna Deva Rao, Vice Chancellor of NALSAR University of Law, placed the Centre in the tradition that created the national law universities and described it as a teaching institution in its own right.

“In medical education, a hospital is not recognised unless it is a teaching hospital. Why should a law school not have a practical dispute resolution component? This consumer mediation centre is that practical component” he said. He added that NALSAR welcomes the opportunity to work with the Commission, the Telangana State Legal Services Authority and the High Court to institutionalise mediation before litigation, both offline and online.

Vishwam Jindal, Co-founder of Webnyay, which is the technology partner for the Centre, addressed the question of digital access and said that the Centre would not assume that every consumer owns a smartphone. “We have conducted mediation hearings entirely over ordinary telephone calls and settled disputes at the grassroots. Access will be designed-in, not assumed” he said.  He also pointed to the Indian Securities Markets, where online conciliations and arbitrations for investor disputes have run successfully for three years and is widely welcomed by investors.

Mediations will run online on the Centre’s platform, in-person at NALSAR Campus and at the premises of the Commissions. The ODR Centre will also conduct short training programmes for mediators and advocates, and students of the University will work on case management, coordination and documentation under the supervision of faculty and empanelled mediators, so that the Centre functions as a teaching facility alongside its dispute resolution work.

At the programme, a demand draft for Rs 12,32,104 was handed to the claimants in a health insurance dispute that had been settled through negotiation during appeal proceedings before the State Commission. The insurer had repudiated the claim, the District Commission had allowed it, and the insurer’s appeal had been pending since 2023. The Commission’s Registrar told the gathering that further settlements were listed to be recorded.

Also present were Sri Panchakshari, Member Secretary of the Telangana State Legal Services Authority, Sri Y. Sathyendra, Registrar of the TSCDRC, Sri D. Devender Rao, President of the Bar Association, TSCDRC, Dr Shyam Prasad, Director of the Civil Supplies Department, Presidents and Members of all District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions in Telangana, advocates and law students.