JOIN USCovid-19 pandemic sees surge in legal disputes, online redressal startups spring up
Bogged down by a staggering 4.3 crore caseload, courts countrywide are now faced with a pandemic surge in legal disputes. So, why burden the system again and instead take the Online Disputes Redressal (ODR) route, an alternative mechanism that now has 13 startups in resolution mode, six of them in Bengaluru?
ODR’s potential to disrupt the system was huge. Solving cases online meant reduced costs, increased access to justice, and improved operational efficiencies. Realising this early, Agami India, a nonprofit, city-based organisation tied up with entrepreneurs, fuelling a shift to innovative solutions.
Civil and financial disputes account for a bulk of the pending cases. It is now feared that once the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) moratorium on bank loan repayments ends, financial disputes will see a massive surge. The ODR system could be the way out. The shift is already visible as many companies are now approaching the system now in place, Agami cofounder Supriya Sankaran told DH.
A big proportion of civil disputes, Supriya said, could easily be taken out of court and resolved as easily as booking a cab. “The key is to do it in a non-adversarial way through mediations and negotiations. It is about resolution that is fair and trusted.”
Global response
As part of its association with Niti Aayog to spread awareness among ODR platforms, Agami India had launched the ‘Agami E-ADR Challenge’. The objective was to seek inventive solutions to effectively solve cases online. “More than 60 responded from across the world.”
The entry of several startups in the hitherto inaccessible legal space could be a game changer. “Improving access to justice by catalysing entrepreneurship is the strategy. We believe that accessibility to law and justice should not only be restricted to lawyers, judges, and other law practitioners.”
What spurred the shift was the enormity of the case-pendency. The National Judicial Data Grid estimates that there are over 60,000 cases in the Supreme Court, 48 lakh in the High Courts, and a whopping 3.3 crore cases are pending resolution in the district and taluk courts.
Banking on the courts alone would mean an average of four years per case, a massive investment of time, money, and scarce resources. Most cases are linked to land acquisition, employee-company issues, consumer issues with e-commerce platforms, and consumer issues related to banking and insurance.
The ODR strategy is this: Disrupt this stagnant system, empower startups, and make justice so accessible that even ordinary citizens can act to improve its systems.