CHAPTER IIACCESS TO AND REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO ADR ENTITIES AND ADR PROCEDURES

Article 7Transparency

1.

Member States shall ensure that ADR entities make publicly available on their websites, on a durable medium upon request, and by any other means they consider appropriate, clear and easily understandable information on:

(a)

their contact details, including postal address and e-mail address;

(b)

the fact that ADR entities are listed in accordance with Article 20(2);

(c)

the natural persons in charge of ADR, the method of their appointment and the length of their mandate;

(d)

the expertise, impartiality and independence of the natural persons in charge of ADR, if they are employed or remunerated exclusively by the trader;

(e)

their membership in networks of ADR entities facilitating cross-border dispute resolution, if applicable;

(f)

the types of disputes they are competent to deal with, including any threshold if applicable;

(g)

the procedural rules governing the resolution of a dispute and the grounds on which the ADR entity may refuse to deal with a given dispute in accordance with Article 5(4);

(h)

the languages in which complaints can be submitted to the ADR entity and in which the ADR procedure is conducted;

(i)

the types of rules the ADR entity may use as a basis for the dispute resolution (for example legal provisions, considerations of equity, codes of conduct);

(j)

any preliminary requirements the parties may have to meet before an ADR procedure can be instituted, including the requirement that an attempt be made by the consumer to resolve the matter directly with the trader;

(k)

whether or not the parties can withdraw from the procedure;

(l)

the costs, if any, to be borne by the parties, including any rules on awarding costs at the end of the procedure;

(m)

the average length of the ADR procedure;

(n)

the legal effect of the outcome of the ADR procedure, including the penalties for non-compliance in the case of a decision having binding effect on the parties, if applicable;

(o)

the enforceability of the ADR decision, if relevant.

2.

Member States shall ensure that ADR entities make publicly available on their websites, on a durable medium upon request, and by any other means they consider appropriate, annual activity reports. Those reports shall include the following information relating to both domestic and cross-border disputes:

(a)

the number of disputes received and the types of complaints to which they related;

(b)

any systematic or significant problems that occur frequently and lead to disputes between consumers and traders; such information may be accompanied by recommendations as to how such problems can be avoided or resolved in future, in order to raise traders’ standards and to facilitate the exchange of information and best practices;

(c)

the rate of disputes the ADR entity has refused to deal with and the percentage share of the types of grounds for such refusal as referred to in Article 5(4);

(d)

in the case of procedures referred to in point (a) of Article 2(2), the percentage shares of solutions proposed or imposed in favour of the consumer and in favour of the trader, and of disputes resolved by an amicable solution;

(e)

the percentage share of ADR procedures which were discontinued and, if known, the reasons for their discontinuation;

(f)

the average time taken to resolve disputes;

(g)

the rate of compliance, if known, with the outcomes of the ADR procedures;

(h)

cooperation of ADR entities within networks of ADR entities which facilitate the resolution of cross-border disputes, if applicable.