Strong online dispute resolution can bring cheaper justice delivery: Kant

Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said a robust online dispute resolution ecosystem has the potential to ensure justice delivery in a cheaper, quicker and credible manner

Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Saturday said a robust online dispute resolution (ODR) ecosystem has the potential to ensure justice delivery in a cheaper, quicker and credible manner, which in turn can help in ease of doing business.

Kant further said ODR is a fast-evolving dispute resolution mechanism that uses technology not just to aid, but to proactively assist efficient and affordable justice delivery.

He was addressing a virtual seminar on 'Unlocking Online Dispute Resolution to Enhance the Ease of Doing Business'.

"A robust ODR ecosystem in India has the potential to facilitate access to justice and the ease of doing business by making dispute resolution cheaper, quicker and most importantly equally credible as conventional methods of dispute resolution," Kant said.

Also speaking at the event, former Supreme Court judge Justice B N Srikrishna said ODR can act as a complement to the court system.

"In fact, it will act as an auxiliary of the court system in the sense that it will prevent a large number of litigations unnecessarily that clutter the courts," he said.

Online Dispute Resolution can help deliver justice to the doorstep of the litigant, Srikrishna said adding that the litigant does not need to travel from Kerala to Delhi to solve dispute, he or she can resolve it through the electronic platform.

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas managing partner Cyril Shroff said that this is an amazing opportunity to create a public-private partnership (PPP) where the government can become the technology garage or the solution for finding access to justice.