According to Commissioner David Cousins, the ACCC has made a submission to a Treasury discussion paper which looked at using Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) for some issues involving online transactions.
Cousins said the Commission had been prompted by its own experience in the area of ADR, and also its view that it was important to try and develop appropriate ADR arrangements in the online world.
Two benefits of ADR which Cousins cited were the low-cost and independent way of resolving disputes.
"Complaints that we're getting in the B2C area pointed out that a number of these complaints would be matters that ADR would be suitable for," he said.
Although Cousins said the ACCC was putting forward the view that it's important to develop effective ADR schemes, he said this needed to be put into the wider perspective.
There were still instances, he said, when complaints would require action by the ACCC under the Trade Practices Act. "It's not an alternative for people who want to access the court, or to use the Trade Practices Act--they should be entitled to do that," he stressed.
Cousins pointed out that a significant issue in relation to e-commerce disputes is the fact the Internet isn't constrained by borders. In the ACCC submission to Treasury it is stated that: "Consumers face significant challenges in seeking redress when a transaction goes wrong, as in many cases traders will be located in other jurisdictions which makes it costly and difficult to pursue remedies."
"It may be that ADR shcemes could operate to help overcome jurisdictional boundaries," Cousins suggested.
In its submission it is outlined that the ACCC received more than 1000 complaints relating to e-commerce last year. Of those complaints, the most common issues were misleading and deceptive conduct; technological practices of some companies which might deceive customers; complaints relating to ISPs; and domain name issues.
