ECDR RULES

ON COSTS OF PROCEDURES

FOR RESOLVING CONSUMER DISPUTES

 

Article 1

These Rules regulate amount of costs and fees in procedures for resolving consumer disputes with administrative support and in the organization of ECDR and terms of payment of such costs and fees.

 

Article 2

The costs of resolving consumer disputes are:

a)    administrative costs of ECDR

b)    neutrals’ fees

c)    travel expenses of neutrals, which exceed the usual travel expenses

d)    costs of taking of evidence

In the procedures for resolving consumer disputes administrative costs of ECDR and neutrals’ fees are always borne by the trader. The amount and method of payment of administrative costs of ECDR and fees for neutrals are defined by these Rules, unless otherwise agreed in a special contract or agreement concluded between ECDR and the trader.

 

Article 3

Administrative costs determined in these Rules cover costs of ECDR’s services in an individual procedure of resolving dispute, namely:

-        advice on the selection of the mediation procedure,

-        obtaining the consent of the trader to participate in the proceedings, where appropriate

-        help in appointing neutrals,

-        organization of the procedural actions in the procedure,

-        all tasks related to obtaining and delivering pleadings and other materials to the parties and neutrals,

-        organization of oral hearings, when needed,

-        providing of facilities for the conduct of procedure at the premises of ECDR,

-        communication between ECDR, neutral and parties,

-        management of the appropriate file of the dispute,

-        issuing invoices for payment of services and costs,

-        other tasks within the competence of ECDR.

 

 

Article 4

Neutrals’ fees and administrative costs of ECDR are uniform for all procedures of resolving consumer disputes and are determined for a specific dispute in relation to the value of the dispute, unless ECDR and the trader, depending on the nature, complexity or expected duration of the dispute resolution, agree otherwise. If the value of the dispute is not defined by the parties or the parties do not agree on it or, if the value of the dispute does not correspond to the claim, ECDR defines the value of the dispute in its sole discretion.

Neutral’s fees must be paid upon the invoice issued by ECDR, at the latest within the period of three days before the launch of the dispute resolution procedure, unless otherwise agreed with special agreement.  

The tariff for neutral’s fees and ECDR’s administrative costs, in EUR:

VALUE OF THE DISPUTE	NEUTRAL’S FEES	ADMINSTRATIVE COSTS	TOTAL
up to 500	50	5	55
From including 500 up to 1.000	100	10	110
From including 1.000 up to 2.000	150	25	175
From including 2.000 up to 5.000	300	50	350
From including 5.000 up to 25.000	500	100	600
From including 25.000 up to 500.000	1.000	150	1.150
From including 50.000 up to 100.000	1.500	250	1.750
Up to 100.000			In the agreed amount

 

 

Article 5

The neutral`s fee covers the study of documentation, time spent on preparation for the procedure and for the conduct of the procedure, the usual travel expenses, writing an agreement or award, if such award is necessary, and other procedural tasks for which the expert is authorized.

 

Article 6

ECDR can in particularly justified cases, on neutral’s proposal, authorize reimbursement of travel expenses in excess of the usual travel expenses. Unless otherwise agreed, in such case each party pays half of such costs.

 

Article 7

Costs of taking of evidence are costs of translation of documents or costs of interpretation in oral procedures, costs for witnesses and costs for court-registered experts or other experts.

Costs of taking of evidence are charged separately and are not included in the payment of administrative costs.

Unless otherwise agreed, the costs of taking of evidence are paid in equal shares by parties.  

Advance payment of costs of taking evidence is a condition for taking of evidence.

 

Article 8

All charged administrative costs and fees are regularly noted in the bill of costs, which is an integral part of each case file administered by ECDR.

 

Article 9

Prices of services defined by these Rules do not include VAT.