At the same time as the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Directive was being enacted, a parallel On-Line Dispute Resolution Regulation was published with a start date for the new website of 9 January 2016.
Further to an announcement that the service would not be ready until February, AMDEA has been notified that the website url has just gone live. It has a temporary message saying that it will be available on 15 February and in the meantime retailers can prepare links to the webpage: http://ec.europa.eu/odr.
The European Online Dispute Resolution platform is specifically designed to help consumers who have bought goods or services online and subsequently have a problem with that online purchase. It allows consumers to submit their dispute details and conduct the ADR procedure on-line in any of the 24 official languages of the European Union.
AMDEA will include details of the process in the consumer law guidance document that we are providing to our members.