Maxim Ali has criticised a bill to resolve consumer disputes online

A bill introducing the order of online pre-court settlement of consumer disputes has been submitted to the State Duma of the Russian Federation. The document proposes to create a separate service of a public service portal. The service will provide the processes of presentation, review and settlement of disputes arising from the purchase and sale of goods and services on the Internet. At the same time, alternative options of conflict resolution will not be available in case of choice of online dispute resolution

According to Maxim Ali, a partner at Maxima Legal, the main problem with the draft law is that the service will only become a platform for litigation of consumer claims and will not provide an advisory solution to the conflict. “What is the point of participation of the parties in the proceedings of such format? Why this service will be more interesting for the parties than a regular e-mail?” – the expert explained to the Advokatskaya Gazeta newspaper. Maxim reminded that earlier drafts of the document provided businesses with 50% discount of fine if it participated in a online dispute through public services.

In addition, the expert drew attention to the excessive detailing of functions to be performed by the service, the difficulty in perceiving the document by a layman and a number of questionable conditions, such as using of an advanced electronic signature.

In Maxim Ali’s opinion, the use of a basic electronic signature would expand the number of users of the service. “It is surprising that the legislator cares more about authenticity of data in a situation when the dispute is about, for example, a defective iron” – said Maxim, noting that a basic signature can be usedto sign a consent to medical intervention (or refusal of such intervention), for example.

To read the full article (in Russian), please see the Advokatskaya Gazeta website >>>