Regulation (EU) 524/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council established and mandated the Commission to develop and maintain the European Online Dispute Resolution Platform (“ODR platform”), offering a single point of entry to consumers and traders seeking the out-of-court resolution of disputes arising from online sales or service contracts.

The ODR Platform operates as an interactive website, where consumers can ask traders to agree on the use of an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) entity that is listed in the ODR platform and is compliant with Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council.

ECC Greece has been designated ODR Contact Point for Greece, providing support to all users (consumers, traders and ADR entities).

However, a recent survey of the EU showed that only a minority of consumers use the ODR Platform to submit a complaint and only 2% of those complaints receive a positive reply from traders for the use of an ADR entity. In this context, the Commission has decided to discontinue the ODR platform and remove the associated obligations for administrations and online businesses.

According to Regulation (EU) 2024/3238, Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 is repealed with effect from 20 July 2025 and consequently the operation of the ODR Platform is terminated in accordance with the following:

• The ODR Platform shall be discontinued on 20 July 2025.
• The submission of new complaints to the ODR platform shall be discontinued on 20 March 2025.
• At the latest by 20 July 2025, all information, including personal data, related to cases in the ODR platform shall be deleted. Therefore, interested users, if they wish, can retrieve the data related to their cases until 19 July 2025.