The Need for a Decentralized Dispute Resolution Mechanism: To Preserve the Convenience of E-Commerce

Internet and telecommunication services are now available all over the world, and emphatically penetrating, still. Such growth in infrastructure invites interest of consumers and producers into foreign markets, which are not physically approachable, but virtually penetrable. Internet trade has grown in leaps and bounds; however, it has not reached the levels it can with the technology available today and the number of consumers and producers willing to trade. The primary reason for the situation is half-belief and distrust towards a foreign land and its products or its investors and consumers. Any dispute between transacting parties is still not resolved at party-to-party level and may reach the highest Appellate Adjudication levels of either region. Dispute resolution has become a part of State policy and the attitude towards it is also driven by national or domestic ideologies. Consequently, resolution of similar disputes in different societies becomes a hindrance to intended interaction over trade and commerce. Although, there have been attempts to create common resolution institutions and uniform laws, private disputes are either not resolved because of geographical differences or are lumped for the same reason.The convenience that electronic commerce offered and by which it lured the .dot com era has negligently been ignored. Any trader worth his salt will ensure enforceability of contractual obligations before raising hopes on attainable profits. Since the resolution practices adopted by international e-traders prove to be difficult to execute by the aggrieved party, many prospective transactions are not even considered. A system of decentralized resolution mechanism will conserve the convenience offered by e-commerce and will attract many more prospective traders. A system which can make the geographical differences inconsequential for fair enforcement of contractual obligations will bring back the convenience of trading across the seas.An ODR System could be an obvious choice for such a suggestion. However, a step-resolution mechanism, inclusive of party participation in decision making and guided negotiations and final adjudicatory options, will prove to be more viable than an ODR System. An organisation to ensure that conflicts are dissolved before they become disputes is required. Trading time and costs of resolution will be some of the starting few profits this system could offer immediately.The paper is an attempt to conceptualise such an organisation by identifying the various factors involved in the functioning and operations of this organisation.