Article 9

1. A complaint submitted to the ODR platform shall be processed if all the necessary sections of the electronic complaint form have been completed. 2. If the complaint form has not been fully completed, the complainant party shall be informed that the complaint cannot be processed further, unless the missing information is provided. 3. Upon receipt of a fully completed complaint form, the ODR platform shall, in an easily understandable way and without delay, transmit to the respondent party, in one of the official languages of the institutions of the Union chosen by that party, the complaint together with the following data: information that the parties have to agree on an ADR entity in order for the complaint to be transmitted to it, and that, if no agreement is reached by the parties or no competent ADR entity is identified, the complaint will not be processed further; information about the ADR entity or entities which are competent to deal with the complaint, if any are referred to in the electronic complaint form or are identified by the ODR platform on the basis of the information provided in that form; in the event that the respondent party is a trader, an invitation to state within 10 calendar days: whether the trader commits to, or is obliged to use, a specific ADR entity to resolve disputes with consumers, and unless the trader is obliged to use a specific ADR entity, whether the trader is willing to use any ADR entity or entities from those referred to in point (b); in the event that the respondent party is a consumer and the trader is obliged to use a specific ADR entity, an invitation to agree within 10 calendar days on that ADR entity or, in the event that the trader is not obliged to use a specific ADR entity, an invitation to select one or more ADR entities from those referred to in point (b); the name and contact details of the ODR contact point in the Member State where the respondent party is established or resident, as well as a brief description of the functions referred to in point (a) of Article 7(2). 4. Upon receipt from the respondent party of the information referred to in point (c) or point (d) of paragraph 3, the ODR platform shall in an easily understandable way and without delay communicate to the complainant party, in one of the official languages of the institutions of the Union chosen by that party, the following information: the information referred to in point (a) of paragraph 3; in the event that the complainant party is a consumer, the information about the ADR entity or entities stated by the trader in accordance with point (c) of paragraph 3 and an invitation to agree within 10 calendar days on an ADR entity; in the event that the complainant party is a trader and the trader is not obliged to use a specific ADR entity, the information about the ADR entity or entities stated by the consumer in accordance with point (d) of paragraph 3 and an invitation to agree within 10 calendar days on an ADR entity; the name and contact details of the ODR contact point in the Member State where the complainant party is established or resident, as well as a brief description of the functions referred to in point (a) of Article 7(2). 5. The information referred to in point (b) of paragraph 3 and in points (b) and (c) of paragraph 4 shall include a description of the following characteristics of each ADR entity: the name, contact details and website address of the ADR entity; the fees for the ADR procedure, if applicable; the language or languages in which the ADR procedure can be conducted; the average length of the ADR procedure; the binding or non-binding nature of the outcome of the ADR procedure; the grounds on which the ADR entity may refuse to deal with a given dispute in accordance with Article 5(4) of Directive 2013/11/EU. 6. The ODR platform shall automatically and without delay transmit the complaint to the ADR entity that the parties have agreed to use in accordance with paragraphs 3 and 4. 7. The ADR entity to which the complaint has been transmitted shall without delay inform the parties about whether it agrees or refuses to deal with the dispute in accordance with Article 5(4) of Directive 2013/11/EU. The ADR entity which has agreed to deal with the dispute shall also inform the parties of its procedural rules and, if applicable, of the costs of the dispute resolution procedure concerned. 8. Where the parties fail to agree within 30 calendar days after submission of the complaint form on an ADR entity, or the ADR entity refuses to deal with the dispute, the complaint shall not be processed further. The complainant party shall be informed of the possibility of contacting an ODR advisor for general information on other means of redress.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-05 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.