ONLINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN INDIA: THE FUTURE OF ADR IN A DIGITAL WORLD

The Indian judiciary has struggled to fulfil the long-standing constitutional promise of access to justice, as more than fifty million cases are pending across all courts at all levels, through which the limitations of the traditional adversarial system have become impossible to ignore. The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms, though, have emerged as a partial solution, yet are lacking in terms of accessibility and wider reach. Thus, Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) has emerged as a transformative paradigm in this aspect, which helps in getting the principles of ADR a wider reach, along with the efficiency of information and communication technology. This paper aims to delve deeply into various aspects relating to the conceptual foundation, legal framework, global initiatives, advantages and challenges of ODR in India. By relying on various scholarly materials, this paper argues that ODR is no more futuristic aspiration but a current necessity in the Indian judicial system.