Arbitration rules
Disputes are settled by the platform arbiter, and they follow these rules rather than their own judgement. The outcome depends on how fully the points of the brief were done. The arbiter can depart from the calculation only under rule 8 and only with a separate explanation.
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1. The ruling follows the job terms
A dispute is settled only on the job terms in the version in force at the moment of the disputed event. The terms include the acceptance criteria, the proof-of-process conditions, scope, price and deadline. Chat agreements that did not become an accepted change of terms do not affect the ruling. This applies to both the client’s extra wishes and the freelancer’s promises. The arbiter assesses the result against the items of the terms and how the parties behaved: submissions, revisions, replies, deadlines. Their personal opinion of the quality of the work does not matter. The arbiter does not carry out a professional expert review (code cleanliness, style, technical choices beyond what the items say).
2. What the arbiter checks and how a brief item is assessed
The arbiter is not an expert in the subject area of the work. They check only what is visible in the case materials without specialist knowledge and without running anything, and assess how the parties behaved. The arbiter checks: • presence: whether the result contains the stated section, file, page, element, link or attached material (report, screenshot, version history); • quantity and scope: the number of sections, pages, characters, words, files, options, the duration of a video or audio, the resolution and size of an image (a deviation of up to 10% from the stated range is acceptable); • format: the file type and extension, the language of the text, the presence of stated words and phrases; • deadline: under rule 4; • actions of the parties: whether the freelancer submitted work, answered remarks, resubmitted, and what the parties wrote in the job chat (rule 1). The arbiter does not check or assess: • quality and style: “interesting”, “lively”, “persuasive”, “beautiful”, “clean code”; • correctness and professional level: calculations, translation, design, architecture, legal or other accuracy; • behaviour when run: linter, tests, speed, compatibility, “works without errors”; • compliance with external standards and brand guidelines. The arbiter does not establish the authenticity of attached materials (a linter report, a screenshot). They see only that the materials are attached and relate to the job (rule 3). Properties that are visible only when the result is run or opened (it starts, it opens, it works through a scenario) are shown by the freelancer themselves, with a screen recording, a video or instructions. The arbiter looks at what is shown but does not run anything. If an item of the brief presumes running or opening the result and the freelancer has not shown it, the item is not done. A file that does not open and has no instructions counts as missing. Each item gets one assessment: done, partly done or not done. • An item the arbiter can check is assessed by that check. If an item lists several parts and only some of them are present, it is partly done. The completion share is the number of parts present divided by the total number of parts. • An item the arbiter cannot check is not assessed on its merits. It counts as done unless the result obviously contradicts it without specialist knowledge (for example, the file is empty, the section is missing altogether or the result obviously belongs to another job). • Any doubt about how to read an item is resolved in the freelancer’s favour: the client writes the brief, so unclear wording is on the client. To make an item checkable, the client should word it through presence, quantity, format or an attached material (rule 3). • Text uniqueness is checked only if the item names the checking service and the threshold. Otherwise rule 6 applies.
3. Proof of the work process
If the proof-of-process conditions are required, a condition is done when the freelancer has provided the requested material and its content matches the request. For example, the version history must belong to this very work. The authenticity of materials is not established by expert analysis. Technical analysis, “AI detectors” and their results are not grounds for a ruling. If materials for the required conditions are provided or the live defence is confirmed, the argument “the work was not made by a human” is not accepted without evidence under rule 6. If the proof conditions are only wishes or are not set at all, the dispute is settled only on the brief items.
4. Delivery deadline and late work
The deadline is the payment date plus the delivery period from the version of the terms, taking into account extensions by accepted changes. It is extended by the time the freelancer waited for the client to answer a question in the job chat, if the work could not continue without that answer. If the work is not delivered by the deadline through the freelancer’s fault, or the freelancer withdrew before delivery, the client gets a full refund. If the work is delivered after the deadline but before a dispute is opened, it is assessed as a normal delivery.
5. The outcome follows the completion degree
The outcome is calculated by a formula, the arbiter does not choose it at their discretion. First, each brief item gets an assessment: done (1), partly done (a completion share from 0 to 1) or not done (0). The completion degree is the average over all items. For example, of four items three are done and one is not: (1 + 1 + 1 + 0) ÷ 4 = 0.75. Then the outcome is determined by the completion degree. The first condition that fits is taken: 1) everything is done (the degree is 1): the full amount goes to the freelancer; 2) not everything is done, there has been no revision in this job yet and there is enough time: the freelancer reworks only what is not done. The revision lasts 7 days, or 14 if more than half of the work is not done. There is enough time when at least the length of the revision plus another 10 days of margin remain until the end of the secure deal term; 3) nothing is done (the degree is 0): the full amount is refunded to the client; 4) not everything is done and a revision is no longer possible (a revision is allowed once, or there is not enough time): the client is refunded the unfinished share of the amount (at a degree of 0.75 that is 25%), rounded to a whole percent (from 1 to 99%), and the freelancer gets the rest minus the platform commission. The arbiter orders a rework in a job only once. After it, the outcome is calculated again, but without condition 2.
How it works, with an example
A job has 4 brief items: three are done, one is not. The completion degree is (1 + 1 + 1 + 0) ÷ 4 = 0.75. Move the slider to see which outcome you get.
- 1Everything is done (degree 1)The full amount goes to the freelancer
- 2Not everything is done and a revision is still possibleThe freelancer reworks only what is unfinished, 7 days
- 3Nothing is done (degree 0)The full amount is refunded to the client
- 4Not everything is done and a revision is no longer possible (allowed once, or not enough time)The client is refunded 25% of the amount, the freelancer gets the rest minus the commissionApplies
6. Bad faith
The result does not count (the completion degree is 0), no revision is ordered and the client gets the full amount back if one of three things is proven: (a) borrowing someone else’s work without attribution or in breach of its licence. For text, this means verbatim matches with previously published materials in more than 30% of the text. For code, images, video, audio, 3D models and other work, it means a substantial part of the result matching someone else’s work. Using libraries, fonts, stock and other materials under their licence is not borrowing; (b) forgery of process materials: the material belongs to another work or contradicts itself; (c) deliberate forgery of the result: it only formally matches the item but is empty or meaningless in substance. For example, a black screen of 20 minutes instead of a 20-minute video, or random characters or an empty file of the right size instead of text. Proof is a link to the source, a specific contradiction in the materials, or the result itself if its emptiness is visible without specialist knowledge. Suspicion without proof is not grounds. Bad faith of either party may lead to a warning or a block under the sanctions catalogue, but only after the party has had a chance to explain.
7. Review procedure
Before the ruling, each party may state its position and attach evidence. The arbiter examines the materials of both parties. The arbiter does not issue a ruling straight away. They work through the case, ask each party clarifying questions where needed and request missing materials. They communicate with the parties only on the platform, never outside it. Each party may, at its own expense, engage an independent expert and attach the expert’s written opinion with the expert’s name, a description of the check and a conclusion on a specific item of the brief. The arbiter takes the opinion into account when assessing the item. The platform does not verify the expert’s qualifications and does not provide experts itself. The ruling is made within 3 business days of the dispute being opened. Time spent waiting for a party’s explanation or for its reply to the arbiter’s question does not count. The ruling contains an assessment of each item, the calculation under rule 5, the numbers of the rules applied and reasons of at least 100 characters. It is communicated to both parties. Dispute materials are available only to the parties and arbiters.
8. Departing from the calculation and enhanced review
The arbiter may adopt an outcome different from the calculation under rule 5 only if the circumstances of the dispute are not covered by rules 1–6. This requires enhanced review, separate written reasons and a note in the ruling. Enhanced review: the arbiter writes a comment on each item and confirms having studied the materials of both sides. It is required if the job price is ₽30,000 or more, all three revisions are used, one of the parties has an active warning, or the arbiter proposes a sanction or changes the dispute type. Rulings with a departure go into the precedent base, so that similar disputes are decided alike.
9. Legal status of the ruling
The dispute resolution procedure is part of the user agreement. The parties instruct the platform to distribute the money held in the secure deal based on the outcome of the dispute review. The platform’s ruling is not an arbitral award. It does not deprive the parties of the right to go to court in the manner established by the laws of the Russian Federation. Consumer rights provided by law are not limited by this procedure.