In connection with the amendment to the Consumer Protection Act, which introduced into the Czech legal order regulation in the area of so-called alternative dispute resolution arising from consumer contracts, information regarding the so-called online dispute resolution platform has also appeared amongst traders. Given that information in this area is not readily available in any coherent form, we have decided to devote the February legal bulletin to this issue. We also hereby remind that we dealt in detail with the amendment to the Consumer Protection Act from the perspective of alternative dispute resolution arising from consumer contracts in legal bulletin No. 5/2015.
The online dispute resolution platform is introduced into the legal order by a directly applicable regulation of the European Union, namely Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on online dispute resolution for consumer disputes and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2009/22/EC (Regulation on consumer ODR) (hereinafter “the Regulation”). What does this actually concern?
First, it must be emphasised that the Regulation does not introduce new methods of dispute resolution between traders and consumers, nor does it introduce new procedural possibilities in such disputes. The Regulation merely regulates the creation of an online dispute resolution platform, which is to serve as a (technological) interface for initiating disputes and to provide technological and procedural facilities to entities authorised for out-of-court resolution of consumer disputes. The preamble to the Regulation specifically states that: “The ODR platform should take the form of an interactive website offering a single point of contact for consumers and traders seeking the out-of-court resolution of disputes arising from online transactions.” The online dispute resolution platform should enable “consumers and traders to submit a complaint by filling in an electronic complaint form available in all the official languages of the institutions of the Union and attach the relevant documents. It should transmit those complaints to an ADR entity competent to deal with the dispute concerned. The ODR platform should offer, free of charge, an electronic case management tool which enables ADR entities to conduct the dispute resolution procedure with the parties through the ODR platform.”
As already mentioned, in the Czech Republic the Czech Trade Inspection Authority (Česká obchodní inspekce) has been entrusted with out-of-court resolution of consumer disputes (in the area of online sale of goods) and furthermore the Financial Arbiter (Finanční arbitr) and the Czech Telecommunication Office (Český telekomunikační úřad) (in specific areas). Although the operator of the online dispute resolution platform is the European Commission, it will not actively intervene in the actual process of out-of-court resolution of consumer disputes in any way.
Given that the Consumer Protection Act in its current form does not permit the initiation of formalised out-of-court dispute resolution by the trader (unlike some other countries), the actual user interface of the online dispute resolution platform will serve primarily consumers. It can thus be expected that particularly foreign consumers will initiate their disputes with traders from the Czech Republic through this platform (also due to a possible language barrier on their part). However, it must be mentioned in this context that the Regulation also applies to disputes arising from domestic transactions carried out online. This means that a Czech consumer may also submit an application to initiate out-of-court dispute resolution through the platform against a Czech trader.
More information about the online dispute resolution platform and its functioning can be found directly on the platform’s website at: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr
The Regulation also establishes, particularly in its Article 14, certain new information obligations for traders, which they must fulfil towards consumers. We have incorporated these information obligations into the APEK standard terms and conditions.
Josef Aujezdský
Law Firm Mašek, Kočí, Aujezdský www.e-Advokacie.cz – online legal advisory
This text was originally prepared by the law firm Mašek, Kočí, Aujezdský in cooperation with the Association for Electronic Commerce (APEK) as legal bulletin No. 2/2016 intended for members of this association.
This text was translated from Czech to English using an AI translator.