NALSAR Launches Mediation Centre To Resolve Consumer Disputes

Hyderabad: Consumers could have a quicker route to resolving disputes without prolonged litigation, with NALSAR University of Law here launching an online dispute resolution (ODR) centre to mediate cases referred by the state and district consumer commissions.

The Nalsar ODR Centre for Mediation was launched recently at a programme organised by the Telangana Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

It is supported by the Telangana State Legal Services Authority and the Telangana High Court, with Webnyay providing the technology for online hearings, case management and document management.

Telangana High Court Acting Chief Justice P. Sam Koshy, executive chairman of the State Legal Services Authority, called for mediation to become an integral part of consumer justice.

“The time has come to consciously cultivate an institutional attitude where the message is, let us first mediate before we litigate,” he said.

Justice Koshy added that mediation was not a retreat from adjudication, but a way to reserve formal decisions for disputes that genuinely required them.

“The true success of consumer protection is not merely when a consumer wins a dispute.

It is when a consumer obtains a fair remedy without having to spend years pursuing it,” Justice Koshy said.

Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya of the Telangana High Court pointed out that consumer complaints were meant to be decided within three months, or five months when goods required testing, but pendency figures showed that cases often took longer.

Under the Mediation Act, 2023, mediation must be completed within 120 days of the first appearance before the mediator, extendable by 60 days with the parties’ consent.

She said mediators must identify unequal bargaining power at the outset and ensure that weaker parties are not disadvantaged.

The centre would conduct mediations online, at the Nalsar campus and at consumer commission premises.

It would also organise training for mediators and advocates, while law students will assist with case management and documentation under faculty supervision.

At the launch, a demand draft of ₹12,32,104 was handed over to claimants in a health insurance dispute settled through negotiations during appeal proceedings.

The insurer’s appeal had been pending before the State Commission since 2023.

Nalsar Vice Chancellor Prof. Srikrishna Deva Rao described the centre as a practical component of legal education.

“Why should a law school not have a practical dispute resolution component?

This consumer mediation centre is that practical component,” he said.

Webnyay co-founder Vishwam Jindal said access would not be limited to smartphone users.

“We have conducted mediation hearings entirely over ordinary telephone calls and settled disputes at the grassroots.

Access will be designed-in, not assumed,” he said.

Justice G. Radha Rani, president of the State Consumer Commission and former judge of the Telangana High Court, said, “Mediation is not about compromising justice.

It is about achieving justice through a different and constructive approach.”