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13 Apr 2023 : The Hindu Editorial Analysis

Editorial 1: India must board the Online Dispute Resolution bus

Context

  • Has India missed the bus in terms of becoming an international arbitration hub? Even if it has, India can still play catch up with Online Dispute Redressal (ODR). At the Delhi Arbitration Weekend in February 2023, Union Law Minister emphasised the need for institutional arbitration to enhance the ease of doing business.
     

Need for ODR:

  • India has shown tremendous improvement in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business report, rising from the 142nd rank among 190 countries in 2014 to 63rd in 2019.
  • However, India is ranked 163rd in ‘Enforcing Contracts’, which is a marginal improvement from the 186th rank in 2015 and 173rd in 2006.
     

Comparing India

  • The report says it takes almost 4 years and 31% of the cost of the claim to enforce a contract in India; In contrast, it takes just over 2 years and costs 22% of the claim value in Brazil.
  • India opened up its economy in the 1990s, which was the decade of growth for international arbitration. As more countries entered into bilateral investment treaties, institutional arbitration became the preferred choice of resolution.
     

Setting things right

  • Although India introduced its first piece of legislation on arbitration and conciliation by the middle of the decade, it acquired a reputation of being ‘arbitration-unfriendly’, as the Srikrishna Committee pointed out in 2017, for several reasons like
  1. lack of preference for institutional arbitration over ad hoc arbitration
  2. frequent interference from the judiciary from the appointment of arbitrators to the enforcement of awards
  3. setting aside of arbitral awards on grounds of ‘public policy’.
  • The amendments of 2015 and 2019 and a few recent judicial decisions have put India on the right path.

 

The shortcomings

  • The scope for using ‘public policy’ as a ground for setting aside awards has been narrowed, and there is a focus on prioritising institutional arbitration. Yet, India is not a preferred arbitration destination, even for disputes between Indian businesses.
  • Many still seek arbitration abroad, even when the dispute is with another Indian entity.
  • Singapore, which opened its International Arbitration Centre in the 1990s when India was opening up for foreign investment, has since emerged as a global arbitration hub and is ranked first in ‘Enforcing Contracts’ being most used by Indian companies.

 

Technology as advantage

  • India can still make use of its strengths in technology and emerge a frontrunner in ODR, like it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the judiciary led the way with online hearings.

 

Advantages of ODR

  1. It can reduce the burden on the courts,
  2. save time and costs, and
  3. provide effective resolutions.

 

The components of ODR

  • ODR involves more than just audio/video conferencing. It encompasses the integration of tools such as
  1. Multi-channel communication
  2. Case management systems
  3. Automated case flows
  4. Digital signatures and stamping
  5. Application of advanced technologies such as
  • blockchain,
  • natural language processing
  •  artificial intelligence
  • machine learning etc

 

ODR and India

  • Private platforms in India are already resolving lakhs of disputes through ODR.  Many corporates have migrated to ODR to resolve small-value disputes. NITI Aayog has rightly claimed that India is “uniquely positioned to emerge as the epicentre for the developments in ODR”. To facilitate this, the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary must work together.
  • The Reserve Bank of India, the National Payments Corporation of India, and the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and a few other institutions have led the way by incorporating ODR mechanisms into several of their initiatives. The need now is to disseminate these at a mass scale.

 

Steps to consider

Three key measures can be considered:

1. incentivise use of ODR by way of legislative measures such as

  • setting ODR as a default dispute resolution tool for categories of disputes arising out of online transactions,
  • fast-tracking enforcement of ODR outcomes, and
  • exempting or reducing stamp duty and court fees.

 

2. solve infrastructural challenges, curb the digital divide, and catalyse ODR’s growth by

  • optimising existing setups such as Aadhaar kendras to also function as ODR kiosks.
  • Each court can have an ODR cell along with supplemental technical and administrative support.
  • On the lines of the Finance Minister allocating ₹7,000 crore for the e-Courts project in the Union Budget 2023 a dedicated fund must be set up for furthering ODR.\

 

3. government departments should explore ODR as a grievance redress mechanism

  • Proactive use of ODR by government entities will not only increase trust in the process but also ensure that citizens have access to a convenient and cost-effective means of resolving disputes with the government.

 

The take away

  • At a time when pendency is gnawing into the very administration of justice, ODR has the potential to ensure justice for all, at everyone’s fingertips. India may have missed the bus to become an arbitration hub, but it can still catch up and overtake them all — all online.

Editorial 2: Health systems must gear up to face the fresh rise in COVID-19 cases

Context:

  • The better part of management is preparedness. The rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the country indicate the need to gear up again. On April 12, a total of 7,830 new cases were reported in a 24-hour period, according to the Union Health Ministry’s data, possibly the highest in over 200 days. There are over 40,000 active cases in the country as on date.

 

Why the surge?

  • A lineage of the Omicron type of coronavirus called XBB.1.16 is said to be behind the current rapid proliferation of cases in the country. Fatalities are also slowly increasing, being reported from States where there had been no deaths reported for months.
  • It might be reassuring that initial studies of the behaviour of XBB.1.16 show milder infections not requiring hospitalisation, indicating that it is not a very virulent strain. However, health systems can scarcely afford to be under prepared, especially considering the recent traumatic experience of a raging pandemic taking a huge toll.

 

Battle to be won over

  • In any long-winded battle in the realm of public health, a sense of fatigue is inevitable, particularly during a pandemic when the demand on health human resources and infrastructure is relentless Every opportunity to lay down the burden will be seized, naturally, and low infection levels over time can lead to complacence.
  • The rising number of COVID-19 cases in India is that call to rouse health systems across the country and have them in a state of readiness to meet the challenge.  The difference though, between March 2023 and March 2020, is that the world is no longer naive. The experience has given an indication of how to be prepared, even if the World Health Organization (WHO) has come round to treating COVID-19 similar to seasonal influenza.

 

The need of the hour

  • The Prime Minister, at the meeting of the COVID-19 taskforce two weeks ago, rightly advised States to focus on the stratagem that worked earlier — ‘test-track-treat-vaccinate’ and adhere to COVID-appropriate behaviour.
  • He also called for enhancing lab surveillance, testing all severe acute respiratory illness cases, and for drills to be conducted regularly in hospitals, nationwide.
  • Several States have brought in compulsory masking at various levels, and conducted drills.
  • But, a lot depends on compliance at the personal level like hand washing hygiene, masking, and reaching the hospital early particularly in the case of senior citizens and persons with co-morbidities.

 

Conclusion

  • As governments prepare themselves, strengthening health systems, individuals should also be prudent to take adequate precautions.