Empanelment and partnerships · Neutral ODR under the Mediation Act, 2023 +91 1141-XXXXXX panel@vakilkaro.com
Vakilkaro
Who can join Track application Empanelment Who is on the panel Case fees For lenders FAQ Mediator log in Lender log in Register now
Mediator and lender registration

Hear cases online. Or recover at scale. Register in two minutes.

Vakilkaro ODR runs on two kinds of partner: certified neutrals who conduct the hearings, and lenders who bring the caseload. Pick your side and apply.

0+
Neutrals empanelled
0–3 days
Verification turnaround
0
Hearing languages
100%
Remote, no travel
Mediator / arbitrator
Lender / business

Join the neutral panel.

Hear cases online, on your own schedule, paid per case. No joining fee, no exclusivity.

+91
or talk to the panel desk first
Message the panel desk
No joining fee Reviewed in 2–3 days Paid per case

Bring your caseload online.

Bulk-file defaulted accounts and settle them through mediation, with the whole trail logged.

or reach the partnerships team
partnerships@vakilkaro.com
RBI-compliant Dashboard and wallet LMS and API

Thank you, there.

No joining fee, ever You choose which cases to accept 3,000+ neutrals already empanelled Hearings from home, no travel Honorarium paid within 7 days of closure Non-exclusive — keep your own practice Caseload from NBFCs and MFIs Matched by language and subject
Two ways in

Pick the side you are on

Both registrations start with the same form at the top of this page. What happens after you submit is completely different.

I want to hear cases

For advocates, retired judges, arbitrators and subject-matter experts who want ADR work without building a practice around it.

  • Paid per case, honorarium released within seven days of closure
  • Accept or decline every allocation — nothing is forced on you
  • Hearings over video, scheduled around your availability
  • Non-exclusive, so your own practice continues untouched
Apply for empanelment

I have a caseload

For banks, NBFCs, MFIs, insurers and businesses carrying small-ticket defaults or disputes that are not worth litigating.

  • Bulk-upload defaulted accounts by CSV, or push them through the API
  • Every outreach logged and timestamped against the Fair Practices Code
  • Settlements e-signed and enforceable like a court decree
  • One dashboard for status, wallet and the full audit export
Request a demo
Eligibility

Who the panel is open to

Mediation is not only for litigators. If you can read a commercial dispute and hold a room, there is likely a queue that needs you.

Already applied

Track your application without chasing us

Enter the reference from your acknowledgement email. Mediator applications start VK-MED, lender onboarding starts VK-LEN. The panel desk updates it at every stage.

Open the Mediator Portal
Applied
Verified
Orientation
Approved
Live
Why the panel

Same skill set, very different economics

Most neutrals lose more time finding work and chasing fees than they do conducting it. The panel exists to remove both.

Empanelled with Vakilkaro ODR

Cases come to you
  • Matters allocated by subject, language and availability
  • Honorarium released within seven days of closure, no follow-up
  • Scheduling, notices and drafts handled by the case desk
  • Hearings over video, no travel, no waiting rooms
  • Accept or decline each allocation, keep your own practice
  • Case history and ratings build a visible ADR record

Building ADR work alone

You find every case yourself
  • Referrals depend entirely on who already knows you
  • Fees negotiated case by case, then chased for months
  • Your own time goes into scheduling and paperwork
  • Physical sittings, travel, and dates that collapse
  • Volume too thin to justify specialising
  • No portable record of what you have actually resolved
Empanelment

Application to first case, six steps

Usually done inside a week. There is no joining fee at any stage, and nothing is deducted from your first honorarium.

Start step one
01

Submit the form Two minutes

Name, Bar Council number, specialisation, languages and how many hours a week you can give. You get a VK-MED reference by email straight away.

02

Upload your documents

Bar Council certificate, mediation or arbitration certification, PAN and a recent photograph. A secure upload link is sent with your acknowledgement.

03

Verification

Our compliance team checks your registration and certification with the issuing bodies. This is the part that takes two to three working days.

Orientation call 45 minutes

A short session on the platform, the case desk, how allocations work and what the code of conduct expects. Held over video, scheduled around you.

No fee is charged at this or any other stage
05

Empanelled, portal opens

You sign the panel agreement digitally and your Mediator Portal login goes live. Set your availability, subjects and languages there.

06

First allocation

Matters matching your profile appear in the portal. Accept the ones you want, decline the rest. Honorarium is released within seven days of closure.

Empanelment is at Vakilkaro's discretion. Applying does not guarantee a place on the panel, and being empanelled does not guarantee a minimum number of allocations. Allocation depends on caseload in your subject, language and region.
The panel today

The people you would be joining

Every neutral here is Bar Council registered, MCPC or equivalent certified, and verified by our team before a single case reached them.

SM

Adv. S. Menon

Mediator · Consumer and insurance
14 yrs
380+ cases
English · Malayalam · Hindi
RB

Adv. R. Bhatt

Mediator and arbitrator · Commercial
19 yrs
510+ cases
English · Gujarati · Hindi
PK

Adv. P. Kaur

Mediator · Loan recovery and NBFC
11 yrs
640+ cases
English · Punjabi · Hindi
TR

Adv. T. Rao

Mediator · Property and tenancy
16 yrs
295+ cases
English · Telugu · Hindi
Your workspace

What the Mediator Portal actually does

Everything from allocation to payout sits in one login. No email threads, no separate invoicing.

Allocation

Accept or decline

Matters matching your subjects and languages arrive with a brief, the amount at stake and the parties. Take what fits.

Hearings

Set your own slots

Publish availability and the case desk schedules around it. Joining links, case files and notes all sit on the same screen.

Payout

Fees, tracked

Honorarium per case, TDS statement and payout history. Released within seven days of closure, straight to your bank.

What a case pays

Honorarium is set by what is at stake

Fixed per case, disclosed before you accept an allocation. No revenue share, no deduction for platform use.

Band A
₹750
Disputes up to ₹50,000
  • One hearing, about 45 minutes
  • Case brief prepared for you
  • Settlement drafted by the desk
  • Paid within 7 days of closure
Band C
₹3,000
₹2 lakh to ₹10 lakh
  • Up to three hearings
  • Senior neutrals only
  • Arbitration option available
  • Paid within 7 days of closure
Band D
₹6,000+
Above ₹10 lakh, or institutional
  • Quoted per matter
  • Retired judges and experts
  • Multi-session where needed
  • Paid within 7 days of closure

Figures shown are indicative bands and exclude applicable taxes and TDS. The exact honorarium for a matter is shown in the portal before you accept it. Bands are reviewed periodically and the rate applicable at allocation is the one that applies.

Trust and compliance

Built to survive a compliance review

Whichever side you register from, the record has to hold up later. Every stage on the platform is logged, encrypted and attributable.

Encrypted case files

Documents stored with AES-256 at rest and TLS 1.3 in transit, on Indian data-centre infrastructure.

Mediation Act, 2023

Settlements drawn as mediated settlement agreements, enforceable in the same way as a court decree.

RBI-compliant outreach

Contact windows, scripts and frequency caps follow the Fair Practices Code. Every touchpoint is timestamped.

Aadhaar e-Sign

Settlements signed through Aadhaar or DigiLocker, giving every party a verifiable, non-repudiable copy.

For banks, NBFCs and MFIs

Recover at portfolio scale, compliant by design

Register your organisation, upload the accounts your field team cannot economically chase, and let neutral mediators work them. Prioritisation is automatic, every outreach is logged, and the whole trail exports in one click.

Faster than field recovery
Bulk
CSV or API case upload
100%
Logged, auditable outreach
LMS
Direct integration available
What happens next

Where your registration actually goes

Each form routes into a different queue with a different team behind it. Here is exactly which one, and who picks it up.

Mediator or arbitrator

  1. Form creates a VK-MED reference, emailed to you immediately.
  2. Secure upload link sent for Bar Council and certification documents.
  3. Compliance verifies credentials in two to three working days.
  4. Orientation call, panel agreement, then the Mediator Portal opens.
Admin console → Mediators → Applications

Lender or business

  1. Form creates a VK-LEN reference and alerts partnerships.
  2. Team runs a demo with your collections and compliance leads.
  3. Agreement and pricing sheet shared, then signed digitally.
  4. Wallet funded, bulk upload enabled, you go live on the dashboard.
Admin console → Lenders → Onboarding pipeline

Institutional partner

  1. Bar associations, ADR centres and universities write to us directly.
  2. Scope discussion on bulk empanelment or training tie-ups.
  3. Memorandum of understanding drawn and signed.
  4. Your cohort is onboarded together with a shared dashboard.
partnerships@vakilkaro.com
From the panel

What registering actually changed

Three people who went through this form and stayed.

I had the MCPC certificate for four years and used it twice. Now I take three or four matters a week between court dates, all from home. The part I did not expect was never having to raise an invoice.

PK Adv. Preet Kaur Empanelled 2025 · Loan recovery · Chandigarh

Verification took two days and the orientation call was genuinely useful rather than a formality. First allocation came within a fortnight, and it was in my subject and my language, which I had assumed would be optimistic.

SM Adv. Sujata Menon Empanelled 2024 · Insurance · Kochi

We registered carrying 900-odd small-ticket defaults our field team could not economically chase. Bulk-uploaded them, and the settled column started moving in the first month. The audit trail is what our compliance head cared about.

AD Anand Desai Collections Head, NBFC · Ahmedabad
Where the work is

Cases arrive from everywhere, you stay where you are

Because hearings run over video, allocation is not limited by where you live. We match on subject and language, so a mediator in Jaipur regularly hears a matter between parties in Kochi and Guwahati.

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States with active cases
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Hearing languages
0+
Cities served
Jaipur Delhi NCR Chandigarh Lucknow Guwahati Kolkata Ahmedabad Mumbai Hyderabad Bengaluru Chennai Kochi
Resources

Read this before you apply

Plain-language explainers on empanelment, ADR practice and what lenders are required to do.

Questions

Before you register

The panel desk answers these all day. If yours is not here, ask directly.

Ask the panel desk

No. There is no application fee, no empanelment fee and no subscription. Nothing is deducted from your first honorarium either. If anyone asks you to pay to be empanelled with Vakilkaro, report it to the panel desk.

Bar Council enrolment certificate, your mediation or arbitration certification, PAN, and a recent photograph. A secure upload link reaches you with the acknowledgement email, so you do not need them open while filling the form.

No. Empanelment is non-exclusive. You set your weekly availability, and you accept or decline each allocation individually. Most people on the panel treat it as additional work around an existing practice.

We cannot promise a number. Allocation depends on live caseload in your subject, language and region, and on the availability you publish. Loan recovery and consumer matters carry the highest volume; niche subjects move more slowly.

Directly to your registered bank account, within seven days of the matter closing, with TDS deducted and the statement available in the portal. The exact amount for a matter is shown before you accept the allocation, so there is nothing to negotiate later.

Yes, for some categories. Chartered accountants, company secretaries and domain experts are empanelled where the dispute turns on valuation, compliance or technical facts. Select "Subject-matter expert" in the form and describe your field.

Registration certificate, GST details, an authorised signatory, and a sample of the account data you intend to upload so we can map the fields. The demo comes first, and there is no commitment until the agreement is signed.

No — this page is for people who want to work on the platform. If you are trying to resolve a dispute of your own, use the consumer dashboard instead and a case manager will call you for a free assessment.
Ready when you are

Register today, hear your first case this month.

Two minutes to apply. No joining fee, and verification usually closes in two to three days.

Call Register now