Online dispute resolution (ODR) is a comparatively new field though we at Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) started working upon the same in 2004. Till 2010 we established ODR research and training centre and launched our own ODR portal. We launched many ODR projects with different perspective and purposes. We started these projects at our main website of Perry4Law.
In 2012 we launched dedicated websites for ODR and e-courts respectively. We launched Techno Legal Centre of Excellence for Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) in India (TLCEODRI) in 2012. We also launched Resolve Without Litigation (RWL) project in 2015. We launched two dedicated portals for ODR too.
The first one is a pro bono portal that is training national and international stakeholders to use ODR for resolution of their present and future disputes. The second one is a professional ODR portal that is meant for our clients and those who are well versed with the use of ODR.
However, we found that Indian government is neither technologically savvy nor it has the political will to implement ODR project in India. We at PTLB gave India an advantage in the ODR field but neither Congress nor BJP took interest in the same. On the contrary, we faced discouragement from government and departments like CGPDTM. All efforts of Indian government and its department(s) are to stiffle the growth of ODR in India rather than developing it. Even the National Litigation Policy of India (NLPI) and New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Ordinance, 2019 failed on the front of ODR.
But other countries recognised the significance of this field and they have started working in this field. We introduced ODR in India in 2005 but till April 2019 neither Congress nor BJP showed any interest. Both wasted 14 years and India is now lagging behind in ODR field despite having 14 years lead.
We can only hope that the new government that would come to power after May 2019 would be sensible enough to take advantage of our Techno Legal ODR expertise and projects. But we cannot take the risk and so PTLB decided to develpo ODR capabilities and expertise in India on its own. We received many funding proposal and we are presently analysing them. We appreciate these offers and would love to explore one or two of them having minimum strings attached.
As we have already established fully functional ODR portals for almost a decade, now it is time to make India a hub for Institutional ODR and International ODR destination. That is why we revived this Blog that was started in 2010 and did some changes to it. We have changed the theme of this Blog and if due to that our readers find any mistake or discrepancy, we apologise in advance.
As both RWL India and TLCEODRI have differnt mandates, we needed a dedicated Social Media account to share our views and announcements with national and international stakeholders. We have launched the ODR Institute Twitter handle for this purpose. The purpose of this handle is to share details about our projects that are working to establish Institutional ODR in India.
Our existing ODR projects are sufficient to make India a destination for ODR but we have decided to launch a dedicated Institutional ODR portal. Till the same is established, national and international stakeholders can use our existing portals. We would launch the same after July 2019 once we have sufficient funding in this regard from national and international fund providers.
