Vietnam: 05 principles of e-commerce activities

05 principles of e-commerce activities (Image from the Internet)

1. What are e-commerce activities?

According to Clause 1 Article 3 of Decree 52/2013/ND-CP of Vietnam's Government, e-commerce activity means conducting part or the whole of the process of commercial activity by electronic means connected to the Internet, mobile telecommunications network or other open networks.

2. 05 principles of e-commerce activities

The 05 principles in e-commerce activities are specifically stipulated in Article 26 of Decree 52/2013/ND-CP (amending Clause 8 Article 1 of Decree 85/2021/ND-CP), which include:

- Principle of free and voluntary agreement in e-commerce transactions

The parties to e-commerce activities are free to reach agreement not contrary to the provisions of law to establish the rights and obligations of each party in the transaction. This agreement is a ground for the settlement of disputes arising in the transaction process.

- Principles of determination of the scope of business in e-commerce.

If traders, organizations or individuals conducting their activities of sales, service provision or commercial promotion on e-commerce websites do not specify geographical limits of these activities, these activities are regarded to be conducted on a national scale.

- Principles of determination of the obligation to protect consumer interests in e-commerce

+ The owners of sales e-commerce websites and the sellers on e-commerce service provision website shall comply with the Law on Protection of Consumer Interests of Vietnam when providing the goods or services to customers;

+ The customers on e-commerce service provision websites are e-commerce service consumers and consumers of goods and services provided by the sellers on these websites;

+ In case the sellers directly post information about their goods and services on e-commerce websites the traders or organizations providing e-commerce services and the traders or organizations providing infrastructure are not the third party providing information as prescribed by the Law on Protection of Consumer Interests.

​- Principles of trading in goods and provision of services restricted from trading or provision or goods and services subject to business conditions through e-commerce

The subjects applying e-commerce for trading in goods and providing services restricted from trading or provision, or goods and services subject to business conditions shall comply with relevant regulations on the trading in those goods and provision of those services.

3. Forms of organization of e-commerce activities

According to Article 25 of Decree 52/2013/ND-CP (amended by Clause 7 Article 1 of Decree 85/2021/ND-CP), forms of organizing e-commerce activities include:

- E-commerce websites for sales are e-commerce websites established by merchants, organizations, or individuals to serve promotional activities, sales, or provide their own services.

- E-commerce service websites are e-commerce websites established by merchants or organizations to provide an environment for other merchants, organizations, or individuals to conduct commercial activities. E-commerce service websites include:

• E-commerce trading platforms;

• Online auction websites;

• Online promotional websites;

• Other types of websites as stipulated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

- Applications installed on networked electronic devices that allow users to access databases of other merchants, organizations, or individuals to buy and sell goods or provide and use services, must comply with the regulations applicable to e-commerce sales websites or e-commerce service websites in Decree 52/2013/ND-CP.

Vo Tan Dai

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