Tbilisi (GBC) - The National Bank of Georgia’s Dispute Review Commission, an alternative dispute resolution mechanism in the field of payment services, will begin its activities on December 1, 2023.

The commission will consider free of charge the complaint submitted by the payment service user against commercial banks (including digital banks), microbanks, registered payment service providers and microfinance organizations.

Complaints may refer to unauthorized (performed without the user's consent) and improperly performed payment operations, violation of their execution period, incorrect deduction of the payment operation fee, and other similar cases related to electronic payments.

In addition to resolving the dispute in favor of one of the parties, taking into account the agreement of the parties, the commission also completes the dispute through settlement. The decision of the commission is binding.

The commission will consider the dispute in no more than 90 calendar days. Considering the complexity of the case, the deadline may be extended by no more than 30 calendar days.

The creation of the dispute resolution commission as an alternative mechanism for dispute resolution in the field of payments is related to the commitment taken by Georgia under the Association Agreement with the European Union.