Small Businesses Get Digital Courtroom! Govt Launching ODR Platform for MSEs

The government is anticipated to launch an online dispute resolution (ODR) platform on June 27, 2025, for minor businesses to facilitate them doing business. This platform will help in solving the issue of delayed problems faster for small enterprises, as officials said.

One of the officials, who doesn’t want to reveal their name, has said that “the MSME ODR portal has been tested, and dispute resolution using the portal has also begun during the testing phase.”

Currently, the Samadhaan portal is in use, which offers limited digital services to micro and small enterprises, like registration for conflict resolution. In the upcoming portal, there are features where parties can not only register delayed payment cases but can additionally upload documents related to the case to the portal in the form of evidence to make their case stronger.

The government official said that initially, the filing of the case, sending notices, and holding hearings, etc. All the actions were performed online. The Samadhaan portal will be amalgamated with the new Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) system. The new system will be focused on resolving disputes using documents only, such as in commercial cases where written documents are more important than spoken statements. Discounts will also be provided to micro and small enterprises on application, paperwork, and other processing fees.

The main aim of the ODR system under the MSME Development Act is to make support stronger by improving the skills of people and technology used by the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council (MSEFC), one of the government officials said. Financial assistance will be provided to these councils formed under the MSMED Act to build their legal abilities.

In accordance with the MSMED Act (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act), a 45-day window is provided to the buyers to pay their MSME supplies. If not paid on time, buyers may incur the liability of paying interest.

As a component of the ODR system, the government is also promoting the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Meaning, AI can be chosen by businesses to settle their conflicts before taking their case to the MSEFC.