The government has introduced a bill aimed at addressing concerns resulting from the growing trends in e-commerce, including fraudulent practices, by strengthening consumer protection and promoting fair competition in the digital marketplace.

This is one of the proposals in the draft law relating to competition and consumer protection. The lower chamber of Parliament approved the relevance of the bill, on February 13. It is now set to be analysed by the Lower House’s responsible standing committee, prior to being put to a vote into law by its plenary sitting.

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E-commerce has the potential to reshape the way consumers shop and businesses operate, but consumers’ rights may be at risk if it is not effectively regulated.

For effective regulation of e-commerce, the draft law contains relevant provisions including establishing obligations for online sellers and online intermediaries and consumer rights.

The introduction of e-commerce provisions in competition and consumer protection law is vital due to the growing digital economy, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

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The Minister of Trade and Industry, Prudence Sebahizi, told The New Times that the protection of e-commerce consumers’ rights comes through regulation, which the bill seeks to achieve.

"E-commerce business is a business that is done without necessarily direct interaction between the buyer and the seller. So, you can go online and find a product and you&039;ll be asked to pay and the product will be delivered to you. So, there are two things that may happen: Either you may receive a wrong product, which is different from the product you have ordered. Or you may not receive your product,” he said.

"So the regulator is there to know who is doing what online, who is the seller online. So in case I order something and is not delivered, or I order something and I receive a different product. Then I will have to complain and the regulator will see who is involved in that transaction in terms of selling online,” he said.

Obligations of an e-commerce seller

The new bill provides for several obligations an e-commerce seller has to comply with.

They include providing their self-related information on the online interface of e-commerce including their registration number; place of registration; physical address; telephone number; website address; e-mail address; mobile telephone number for providing after-sale services; mobile telephone number of the grievance officer, and code of conduct used by the seller.

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The seller must also provide information related to right of withdrawal, product guarantee, expiration date, delivery and shipment, and complaints redressal mechanism, and any other similar information that may be required by consumers to make decisions; and give the time within the goods will be dispatched or delivered or within which the service will be rendered.

Other obligations are to provide information on available payment methods, security of those payment methods, fees or charges payable by consumers, the procedure to cancel payments under those methods; to indicate the manner and period within which the consumers may access and maintain a full record of the transaction and the applicable terms of the contract; the means of alternative dispute resolution; to inform the consumer about its right of withdrawal for confirmed transactions, conditions and exceptions.

They must also acknowledge the receipt of consumer complaints within 72 hours and redresses them, if applicable, or offer a response to the complainant within 15 days from the date of receipt of the complaint; record the consent of a consumer for the purchase of any good or service offered on its online interface; and avoid stating views or ratings of goods or services, and refrain from submitting or commissioning a person to submit false information or endorsements, or misrepresenting information or endorsements to promote goods or services.

Other obligations are to issue a proof of purchase for goods or services by an electronic notification that the consumer receives in real time after purchase; publication of how the consumer may access, correct, delete or unsubscribe, from e-commerce seller’s databases and avoid imposing unreasonable conditions for consumers to exercise these rights; and to ensure that the consumer may easily identify communication as an advertisement and to provide the consumer with the free and easy option to cancel his or her subscription to the mailing list.

Rights of an e-commerce consumer

An e-commerce consumer has rights including access to the terms and conditions before the conclusion of a transaction of ecommerce; to review the e-commerce transaction and correct any mistakes before confirming the transaction; to request from the e-commerce seller a refund, a repair or a replacement of the goods or service when the consumer receives goods that are damaged, defective, or different from those ordered or the goods that do not work as advertised or do not work for their intended purpose.

The consumer is also allowed to withdraw from the distance contracts, before the confirmation of e- commerce transaction; to cancel the purchase concluded in e-commerce.

In the bill, a distance contract is defined as a contract concluded between a seller and a consumer without the simultaneous physical presence of the seller and the consumer, with the exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication.

As per the bill, a consumer may cancel a concluded distance contract within seven days from the date of the reception of the goods and bears the cost that may result from returning the goods.

If the payment for the goods has been made before the consumer cancels the purchase, the consumer is entitled to be refunded the payment made within 15 days from the date of cancellation.

The bill provides that the regulatory authority – a public entity in charge of competition and consumer protection – establishes regulations determining the modalities of cancellation of electronic transactions.