India Launches Akhilesh Srivastava’s ODR Portal

1. India Launches Akhilesh Srivastava’s ODR Portal The Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu, on April 21, 2018 launched the Government of India’s maiden portal for Online Dispute Resolution in the presence of former secretary and Minister of Law & Justice, P K Malhotra, and key dignitaries from the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). On the occasion, the ODR system, which was developed by chief general manager in the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), grabbed the eyes of the world and positioned India as the first nation to have a full- fledged, dedicated system for online dispute management. Addressing a conference at the launch, Venkaiah Naidu expressed satisfaction on the ODR system, which was developed by Mr Akhilesh Srivastava, the Chief General Manager (CGM) of the NHAI. Naidu further said that the ODR portal would expedite dispute resolution in the construction industry. The system will also bring transparency to the legal process in the public sector by allowing parties to review and resolve their conflicts in a sophisticated fashion. The dispute redressal mechanism also will draw the attention of foreign investors by projecting the country as investor friendly. Addressing a national conference organised by the Construction Industry Arbitration Council (CIAC), Naidu said that Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) integrated with the online technology will uncomplicate dispute resolution and better the legal procedures in the construction industry. The new ODR portal will facilitate expeditious settlement of cases in construction and e-tendering, and complements the rapid evolution of technology and e-commerce in the modern world. Akhilesh Srivastava, who also developed the ETC system for the highway sector, designed and developed the dispute redressal mechanism to carry out Arbitration, Mediation, and Conciliation in the public sector. Srivastava also is in-charge of the development of a common public ODR system for the highways sector in the country. Earlier, NHAI’s officials had successfully demonstrated the efficacy of the new ODR portal to the UNCITRAL and got their official approval. The Centre launched the portal after receiving the authorisation. The ODR portal uses two methods - Consensual and Adjudicative. The first allows Automated Negotiation and is solely designed to identify economic liability-independent settlements. Double Bidding and Visual Bidding are two forms of Automated Negotiation, which solve singular and multiple party issues, respectively. This method is apt to settle brick-and-mortar issues in businesses, municipalities, and insurance companies. Under Assisted Negotiation, the ODR system processes negotiation between two parties. Assisted Negotiation ensures effective communication between the litigants using software. This method is built to facilitate friendly negotiations between disputers. The NHAI CGM’s ODR portal is a gateway of opportunities for job seekers. It provides employment for engineering and law pursuits. The ODR mechanism also will attract job aspirants from around the world to be a part of the innovation, which was one of Akhilesh

2. Srivastava’s main motives. Many Arbitration systems specialists already have shown interest in CGM Srivastava’s portal and are working on it. The ODR system is a great source of avenues for young engineering and business graduates who want core jobs. Being the first-of-its-kind online dispute resolution portal, Srivastava’s innovation is receiving global accolades. The portal also is expected to ease foreign trade and consequently surge the Indian economy in the international arena. #AkhileshSrivastava #OnlineDisputeResolution #HighwayOperations