Online, Offline, or Both: Choosing How Your Hearing Runs

Few changes have reshaped dispute resolution as quickly as the move to online proceedings. What began as a necessity is now a choice — and a good one in many cases. But it is a choice: some disputes are best heard in a room, and many benefit from a mix of both.

The legal footing

Indian law recognises electronic records, electronic signatures, and contracts formed by electronic means under the Information Technology Act, 2000. The Arbitration and Conciliation Act lets the parties — or, failing agreement, the tribunal — decide the procedure, including where and how hearings are held, and the Mediation Act, 2023 expressly recognises online mediation. An award made after online hearings is as valid as one made after hearings in person.

When online works best

• Document-heavy disputes where oral evidence is limited.
• Parties, counsel, or witnesses in different cities or countries.
• Procedural hearings and case management conferences.
• Mediation sessions, especially private sessions with each party.
• Small and medium claims, where travel would be a large share of the cost.

When to meet in person

• Cases that turn on the credibility of key witnesses under cross-examination.
• Complex technical evidence that benefits from site visits or physical exhibits.
• Settlement meetings where the parties' presence in one room changes the dynamic.

Hybrid hearings

Many cases combine the two: procedural hearings and most witnesses online, the key witnesses in person, or a tribunal sitting physically with some participants joining remotely. The tribunal sets the format at the first case management conference, after hearing the parties.

Making online hearings fair

An online hearing must give every party a full opportunity to present its case, just as a physical one does. Good practice includes a test session before the hearing, a protocol on who may be present in each participant's room, rules for sharing documents on screen, and an agreed method for witness examination — including how a witness's documents are controlled while they give evidence. Hearings are recorded or transcribed where the tribunal so directs.

Data security matters too. Case documents should be exchanged through a secure platform, not personal email, and access should be limited to the parties, their counsel, and the tribunal. These safeguards are built into the Adjudix ODR Platform and set out in the Adjudix Code of ADR Procedure.

Cost and time

Online hearings remove travel, accommodation, and venue costs and make it far easier to find dates that suit everyone — which often brings the final hearing forward by weeks. For small and medium claims, these savings can be a significant share of the total cost of the dispute.

How Adjudix runs it

The Adjudix ODR Platform handles filing, service of documents, scheduling, and virtual hearings, with secure storage of the case record. Offline proceedings use the same procedure and the same Code. Whichever format the parties choose, the rules, the timelines, and the standards are identical — only the room changes.