ODS Regulation

ADR Center ODS Regulation

Regulation on the out-of-court resolution of disputes between online platform providers and service recipients pursuant to art. 21 of the Digital Services Act - Regulation (EU) 2022/2065

Effective from September 1, 2025

Art. 1 Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

" ADR Center " is the independent international out-of-court dispute resolution (ADR) body based in Italy, which administers the Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution Service (ODS) procedure pursuant to these Regulations.

“ Illegal Content ” means any information that does not comply with applicable Community Legislation or the law of a Member State pursuant to such Legislation, as defined in the Digital Services Act.

“ Breach of Terms and Conditions ” means any breach of the terms and conditions of the online platform that govern the contractual relationship between the platform and its users.

ADR Center's " Case Management System " or " CMS " is a multilingual electronic communication technology developed by ADR Center to easily submit a complaint and manage the ODS process online in all official languages of the European Union. The CMS is available at the following website: https://ods.adrcenter.com.

“ Evaluator ” means an expert appointed by ADR Center to manage the ODS procedure and issue a non-binding decision.

“ Complaint ” is the initial request submitted by a User through the ADR Center CMS against a Provider, which falls within the areas listed in Art. 3, Section 3.

“ Digital Service Act ”, “ Digital Services Regulation ” or “ DSA ” means Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 on the single market for digital services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act) of the European Union.

" Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution Mechanism ," " Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution ," or " ODS " means the online dispute resolution procedure administered by ADR Center and its Evaluator, who operates in a neutral, impartial and competent manner with the aim of issuing a decision that is not binding on the Parties.

“ Online Platform ,” “ Provider ,” or “ Platform ” means an online platform provider or a large online platform that, as a hosting service, at the request of a User, stores and disseminates information to the public.

" Online search engine " means an intermediary service that allows users to enter search terms in order to search, in principle, all websites, or all websites in a given language, based on a query relating to any topic in the form of a keyword, voice query, phrase or other type of input, and returns results in any format in which information related to the requested content can be found.

" ODS Case Manager " is the person or persons appointed by ADR Center to manage the CMS available at: https://ods-service.adrcenter.com/, including communication with Users, Platforms, Trusted Reporters, official authorities or any other third parties who contact ADR Center's ODS, as well as assessing the admissibility of complaints received by the ODS.

" Service Recipient ," " Recipient ," or " User " refers to any natural or legal person using an intermediary service provided by an online platform provider. To avoid any uncertainty of interpretation, any reference to "Service Recipient," "Recipient," or "User" shall be deemed to also include "Trusted Referrers" or "Referrals," without the need for specific mention.

“ Trusted Flaggers ” or “ Flaggers ” means any entity, designated by the respective national digital services coordinators, responsible for identifying potentially Illegal Content and reporting it to online platforms.

" Party " or " Parties " means a User, Reporter or Provider, jointly participating in an ODS process.

" Documents " means all files, computer records and any other evidence submitted by the Parties to the dispute.

" Regulations " means these Regulations for the Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution Service adopted by ADR Center and which may be subject to further changes.

" Terms and Conditions " means all clauses, regardless of their name or form, that regulate the contractual relationship between the Platforms and the Users.

“ Phases and Timeframes of the Procedure ” means the timeframes indicated in this Regulation, which are to be understood as non-binding, without prejudice to the 90-day deadline (180 in the case of complexity) as provided for in Article 7 of the Regulation, which represents the maximum reference limit for the procedure.

“ Conciliation Agreement ” means the agreement reached between a User and a Platform through the Platform itself and the features it offers during the procedure set forth in Article 9 of these Regulations.

All definitions shall be interpreted and applied in accordance with the principles and spirit of the DSA. In the event of any conflict between the definitions provided herein and the meanings assigned to them by the DSA, the definitions set forth in these Rules and the meanings assigned thereto shall prevail.

Art. 2 Application of the Regulation

1. This Regulation (“Regulation”) is administered by ADR Center (“ADR Center”) and its Evaluators and ODS Case Managers.
2. The Regulation defines how ADR Centers must manage the out-of-court resolution of disputes between Users and Online Platform Providers, in accordance with Article 21 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 on the Single Market for Digital Services, which also amends Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act) of the European Union.
3. The Regulation applies to domestic and cross-border disputes between service recipients and online platform providers in the following areas:
   1. Illegal content or incompatibility with the Provider's Terms and Conditions;
   2. Removing or disabling access to information;
   3. Suspension or termination of user accounts or provision of the Service;
   4. Suspension, termination, or limitation of the ability to monetize the information; and
   5. Any other action taken by online platform providers that affects user content or accounts.
4. ADR Center may periodically modify any provision of these Rules, and such modifications will be effective and applicable to all Claims submitted after the date of publication of the modification on the ADR Center website at the following address: https://ods.adrcenter.com. The modifications will not have retroactive effect on Claims submitted prior to the date of the modification.

Art. 3. Criteria applicable to the procedure

Any ODS process carried out under this Regulation shall comply with the principles set out in the DSA and shall explicitly include the following:

1. Neutrality and Impartiality – ADR Center will always act neutrally and impartially, ensuring that its decisions are free from any bias or personal interest.
2. Fairness and Transparency – The ODS process must be conducted in a fair and transparent manner for all parties involved, allowing them to present their arguments in good faith and effectively support them, and must conclude with the adoption of a properly reasoned and justifiable decision.
3. Compliance with Law and Human Rights – All ODS proceedings shall comply with applicable law and ensure that relevant human rights are respected throughout the proceedings.
4. Efficiency – All ODS procedures are designed to ensure timely and cost-effective dispute resolution in a large number of cases.

Art. 4 Representation

1. The Parties may be assisted by lawyers, experts, and consultants appointed by them in preparing any written statement. Proof of qualifications of such professionals is not required.
2. If a Claim is filed by someone other than the directly injured party, additional documentation proving the legal representative's authority must be provided for the case to be admissible.
3. Parties that are not natural persons, with the exception of Suppliers, are required to submit, at the beginning of the ODS procedure, appropriate documentation proving the powers of representation of the person authorized to sign the written declarations.
4. For the purposes of these Rules, only communications exchanged with representatives of a Platform via the CMS will be considered binding on the Platform and the ADR Center. Such communications will presumably be made by duly authorized representatives of the Platform, and no further verification of the representative's authority will be required, unless there are reasonable doubts regarding the authenticity or authority of the person acting on behalf of the Platform.

Art. 5 Initiation of the Procedure

1. Any User or Reporter may initiate an ODS proceeding against a Provider in accordance with these Rules by submitting a complaint to the ADR Center via its CMS which is easily accessible to users.
2. To submit a complaint, the User must first register in the ADR Center CMS by creating a personal account and accepting the terms and conditions governing the operation of the CMS.
3. The complaint must contain at least:
   1. The User or Reporter's full contact details, including email address, telephone number and postal address, and an indication on whose behalf the complaint is being made;
   2. The Supplier and the Platform against which the Complaint is made;
   3. Description of the matter raised in the Complaint and the time it occurred, and confirmation by the User that the event occurred less than 12 months before the Complaint was lodged;
   4. Indication of the measures taken to attempt to resolve the matter, including attempts made through the Platform's internal complaint management system and the responses received (if any);
   5. The desired outcome that the User or Reporter intends to achieve (e.g., refund, replacement, removal/restoration of content);
   6. Digital copies of all documents relevant to the dispute, such as photos, screenshots, invoices, receipts, video or audio files;
   7. Preference for the language among the available official European languages in which to conduct the procedure.;
4. Only the documentation submitted together with the Complaint will be taken into consideration, unless otherwise requested by the Evaluator after the declaration of admissibility.

Art. 6 Admissibility of the Proceedings

1. Upon receipt of a Complaint, the ADR Center will evaluate its admissibility based on the following criteria:
   1. Full contact details and identification of the party on whose behalf the Complaint is being submitted, proof of representation (in case of indirect submission);
   2. Complete description of the Complaint as requested in the application form, including the URL address or username of the user whose account/content was removed from the Platform or the URL address of the removed content;
   3. The Provider, Platform and service against which the Complaint is made must fall within the scope of the DSA and Article 21 and the Complaint must be directed at only one Platform;
   4. The issue must fall within the regulatory scope of the DSA and concern one or more of the following aspects:
   5. a) Presence of Illegal Content or incompatibility with the Provider's Terms and Conditions;
   6. b) Removal or disabling access to information;
   7. c) Suspension or termination of user accounts or access to services;
   8. d) Suspension, interruption or limitation of monetization capabilities;
   9. e) Any other action taken by online platform providers that affects your content or account;
   10. The User must have already submitted a complaint directly to the platform, in accordance with Article 20 of the DSA, and the matter must have remained unresolved, including through the platform's internal complaint management system;
   11. The dispute must not have already been resolved by other means, including a judicial decision on the merits of the dispute, and no judicial proceedings addressing the merits of the dispute must be pending at the time the Complaint is filed;
   12. The matter must have arisen within the 12 months preceding the filing of the Complaint;
   13. There must be no evidence of bad faith on the part of the User, such as filing multiple Complaints against the same Platform following the deliberate and repeated dissemination of evidently Illegal Content, in order to impose procedural costs on the Platform.
   14. ADR Center will take into consideration any previous or pending complaints submitted by the User to ADR Center relating to the same platform and the same problem.
2. If the Complaint is missing the required information, or if the information provided is partial, misleading, incomplete or concerns more than one Platform, the ADR Center will contact the User via the CMS to request the necessary clarifications within a reasonable time or to recommend filing separate Complaints for each Platform mentioned.
3. Based on the above requirements, ADR Center will determine the admissibility of the Complaint. If the Complaint is deemed admissible, an Evaluator will be appointed and the Complaint will be forwarded to the Provider for a response. If the Complaint is inadmissible, the User will be promptly informed with the reasons, which will be final and not subject to appeal.

Art. 7 Appointment of the Evaluator

1. ADR Center will appoint an Evaluator from its list of experts who possesses the skills and linguistic knowledge most appropriate to the complaint and who is available to issue a non-binding decision within a reasonable time, in accordance with these Regulations.
2. In the event that an Evaluator becomes permanently unavailable during the evaluation for reasons beyond their control, or delays issuing the non-binding decision beyond 30 days after the deadline for issuing the non-binding decision, ADR Center reserves the right to unilaterally replace the Evaluator with another with a similar profile, experience, and language skills. Before formally accepting such a change, the new Evaluator must ensure that the procedure set out in Article 8 below has been followed and that there are no conflicts of interest that could affect their impartiality and neutrality or the perception thereof.

Art. 8 Conflict of Interest, Communications and Replacement of an Evaluator

1. Before formally accepting the assignment, the Evaluator must sign a declaration attesting to his or her impartiality, neutrality, and independence, as well as detailed knowledge of the Terms and Conditions of the Supplier subject to the complaint.
2. Each Evaluator is required to disclose to the ADR Center and the Parties involved any financial, professional, or personal interests relating to the outcome of the proceeding, or the existence of facts or circumstances that could give rise to the presumption of bias or affiliation with one of the Parties. Upon receipt of this information and after consulting the Parties, ADR Center may replace the Evaluator with another expert selected from its own list. Alternatively, if one of the Parties legitimately challenges the Evaluator's neutrality or impartiality, no later than 10 (ten) days after the Evaluator's appointment, the Party may request the assignment of a different Evaluator, in which case a new Evaluator will be assigned.
3. All Evaluators agree not to offer their services or assistance, whether paid or not, to the Vendors, Users, or Reporters involved in their assigned cases, for the duration of the ODS process and for a period of three years thereafter. Failure to comply with these provisions will result in removal from the Evaluators' list of ADR Center experts.
4. The Evaluator may not act as an arbitrator, mediator, representative or attorney for a Party in any arbitration or judicial proceeding relating to the dispute that is the subject of the ODS procedure.
5. A conflict of interest is considered to exist in cases where the Evaluator:
   1. has provided advice, in any form and regardless of remuneration (paid or pro bono), to one of the Parties involved in the assigned complaint; or
   2. has personal, financial, or professional interests with one of the Parties to the assigned complaint. In such circumstances, the Evaluator is required to withdraw from the procedure.
6. All complaints filed by Users affiliated with the ADR Center (e.g., directors, employees, decision makers, etc.) are considered inadmissible.
7. ADR Center directors, employees, and evaluators must not have any relationships with Suppliers, and in particular, any personal, financial, or professional interests that could compromise their ability to act impartially and independently. This may include, but is not limited to, family relationships, personal or professional partnerships, significant financial investments, or any other ties or commitments that could call into question the individual's independence and objectivity.

Art. 9 Phases and Timeframes of the Procedure

1. The ODS procedure will be managed exclusively through the ADR Center CMS system, unless otherwise agreed upon in each individual case with any Platform, and will be concluded within 90 days of the date of receipt of the Complaint. In particularly complex cases, this deadline may be extended by an additional 90 days for a total of 180 days, of which the parties will be informed in advance before the initial 90-day deadline expires.
2. All communications carried out during the Procedure will be conducted through the CMS or other suitable tool agreed on a case-by-case basis with the Platform, all preferably in writing, in English or in the User's preferred language among those available at the ADR Center indicated in the application.

Art. 10 Supplier's Response

1. The Provider must provide a response in the language of the complaint and submit any additional documents related to the complaint via CMS within 20 days of receiving the complaint, unless otherwise specified. If the Provider, despite being invited to participate in the procedure, refuses or fails to respond within the 20-day period, the Evaluator may issue a non-binding decision based solely on the documents submitted by the User in the complaint within the same timeframes indicated in Article 9 above.

Art. 11 Conciliation proposals and agreements

1. At the Evaluator's sole discretion, a negotiation phase within the CMS may be activated to allow the parties to exchange conciliation proposals and additional statements with the goal of reaching an amicable resolution. These exchanges will be permitted for a limited period, as determined by the Evaluator, which may not exceed a total of 25 days. In particularly complex cases, and provided that the parties are actively negotiating via the CMS, the Evaluator may extend this period up to a maximum of 60 days, if both parties submit a written request for such an extension. All exchanges of statements and proposals will take place directly between the parties, without the active involvement of the Evaluator.
2. If the Parties reach an agreement by exchanging and accepting proposals through the CMS or other appropriate means agreed upon by the User, the Evaluator closes the proceedings by declaring the complaint resolved by settlement, without the need to issue a decision or any other document relating to the case.

Art. 12 Issuance of a non-binding decision and conclusion of the proceedings

1. Following the Supplier's response (if any) and at the end of the settlement proposal period, the Evaluator will issue a non-binding decision via CMS and inform the parties of this decision through the means of communication used for the case. The Evaluator's decision will be based solely on the documents submitted and publicly available information and will not take into account any settlement proposals that may have been made during the procedure.
   If an agreement is reached, the Evaluator's decision will acknowledge that the parties have reached an agreement, the terms of which will be included in the decision.
   The decision will include the reasoned position taken by the Evaluator and does not affect the Parties' right to take legal action before a competent court. The decision may be issued even in the absence of a response or documentation from the Supplier.
2. The decision issued by the Evaluator will not be binding on the Parties unless they decide to accept it and formalize it in accordance with the national legislation applicable to the place of performance. Neither the ADR Center nor the Evaluator are responsible for or required to formalize further binding decisions, which will be handled directly between the Parties.
3. Upon the issuance of a non-binding decision, or upon the parties reaching an agreement, the ODS procedure will be considered concluded without any right of appeal by either party. ADR Center has no responsibility to convert its non-binding decisions into binding or enforceable decisions, nor does it have any jurisdiction to enforce any aspect of its decision.
4. At the end of the procedure, ADR Center will send a questionnaire to the parties to collect their feedback and their decision and to find out whether the decision was implemented immediately or not.

Art. 13 Confidentiality and Protection of Personal Data

1. All information, records, reports, or other documents received by the Evaluator during his or her mandate will be treated in strict confidence. The Evaluator shall not disclose such documents or testify or provide evidence relating to the ODS procedure in any legal proceeding or forum, unless otherwise provided under applicable national law. The Parties shall maintain the confidentiality of the procedure and shall not use or introduce as evidence in arbitration, legal proceedings, or other proceedings:
   1. The opinions expressed, proposals or offers made by a party;
   2. Admissions made by a party during the ODS procedure;
   3. Any evidence or source of evidence that does not become inadmissible merely by its use in the ODS procedure.
   ADR Center will take all necessary technical and organizational security measures to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, modification, or unauthorized disclosure or access.
2. The collection, processing, and storage of all data transmitted via CMS or other communication tools will be carried out in full compliance with applicable data protection regulations and in accordance with the ADR Center Data Protection Policy, available at https://ods.adrcenter.com/. Such personal data will be used exclusively for the purposes of conducting the dispute resolution process, communicating with the parties, improving ODS services, and fulfilling legal obligations. The data will be disclosed to third parties only if necessary for the dispute resolution process, if required by law, or with the consent of the parties.
3. By submitting documents or written evidence through the CMS, the Party confirms that it has obtained such documents lawfully and with the consent of the data subjects whose personal data may be contained in the documents, and agrees to the exchange of such data between the Parties to the dispute through the CMS.
4. By agreeing to participate in the ODS process, the Parties agree that an anonymized version of the non-binding final decision may be published on CMS, ADR Center, and other affiliated websites, and used for statistical or analytical purposes by ADR Center.

Art. 14 Disclaimer

1. ADR Center, its management, officers and employees, or the Evaluators shall not be liable to any Party for any damages arising from any alleged acts or omissions in connection with the proceedings conducted under these Rules, the settlement agreement reached, the non-binding decision issued and/or compliance with and enforcement of such decision.

Art. 15 Costs of the procedure

1. All costs and expenses of the ODS procedure will be borne exclusively by the respective Platform against which the Complaint was filed and will be free of charge to the User. The fees due for the ODS procedure are indicated in the Price List, which forms an integral part of these Rules and may be amended from time to time. Any changes to the Price List will be binding on the Platforms upon communication of the new updated prices to the Platform.
2. Fees reflect the actual costs incurred by ADR Center for administering its Case Management System, managing the ODS process, and issuing non-binding decisions, including the professional fees of appointed experts. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, the Platform will pay all case fees within 30 days of the invoice date. Fees are due and payable regardless of whether the Platform submits a response or complies with ADR Center's decision.
3. If the dispute is decided, in whole or in part, in favor of the User, the Provider shall reimburse the User for the costs incurred in connection with the ODS procedure, if it is proven that such damages were incurred by the User. These costs will be determined by the Assessor according to the following criteria:
   1. Reasonably related expenses aimed at ensuring the legal protection of the User's rights during the ODS procedure;
   2. Proof of actual payment of expenses, accompanied by relevant documentation;
   3. Usual costs for this type of litigation and proportionate to the objectives pursued, such as legal representation and expert advice;
   4. Costs that do not exceed the prevailing market costs for similar services necessary to ensure adequate legal protection of the User's rights.
4. If the dispute is decided in favor of the Supplier, the User is not required to reimburse the Supplier for the costs incurred in participating in the ODS procedure, unless the Assessor determines that the User acted in bad faith. In such case, the User will reimburse the Supplier for the actual costs incurred in the ODS procedure.
5. If the Platform fails to cover the costs assigned to it, ADR Center may report such failure as a violation under the DSA and may take further action against this Platform, including, but not limited to, notifying the appropriate authority for this non-compliance.

Art. 16 Interpretation and application of the Rules

1. The Evaluator will interpret and apply these Rules with respect to the Evaluator's duties and responsibilities. In all other cases, the Rules will be interpreted and applied by ADR Center.

Art. 17 Applicable law and jurisdiction

1. The ODS procedure is governed by, interpreted, and implemented in accordance with Italian law, the DSA, and applicable EU legislation. Participation in this procedure does not prejudice or limit in any way the User's or Reporter's right to take legal action in the competent court.