New e-commerce law entered into force in Uzbekistan
On December 31, 2022, a new law on e-commerce (hereinafter the «Law») entered into force¹. Thus, the previous law of the same name is no longer applicable².
Scope of regulation
The following matters fall under the regulation of the Law:
- distance sale of goods, works and services;
- sale of digital products, i. e.:
- digital copies of intellectual property items (digital goods); and
- performance of certain actions or activities in the electronic information environment that do not have a material result, including services for the purchase and subscription to “cloud technology” services (digital services).
Key points
1. The Law applies to relationships arising from entrepreneurial activities as well as to relationships related to the acquisition of goods, works, services or digital products for personal purposes³.
2. The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, within the scope of its powers, is entitled to:
- issue regulations in the field of e-commerce;
- approve the list of goods (works, services) withdrawn from or restricted in e-commerce circulation.
3. The Ministry of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan together with other interested parties develops and approves standards, norms and rules in the field of e-commerce.
4. The law establishes general provisions for the participants of legal relations in the field of e-commerce, the rights and obligations of the seller, the buyer, the operator of e-commerce, provisions on the methods of contract conclusion and content, requirements for the offer, etc.
5. The law stipulates that the terms and conditions of contracts must be formulated in a clear, understandable form in the Uzbek language. If necessary, in addition to the Uzbek language, they may be drafted in other languages convenient for the parties.
6. Special importance has been attached in the law to escrow services. It specifies the duties of an escrow agent, the grounds for disbursement of funds to the seller/buyer. Thus, according to the law, the following parties may provide such services:
- operators of trading platforms;
- payment service providers;
- legal entities that provide services for the delivery of goods (works, services).
7. With respect to contracts for digital products, the Law establishes the following:
- a list of documents and information that can confirm the conclusion of the contract;
- a list of annexes that can be attached to the original accounting document, drawn up unilaterally.
8. The rules of the cash operation procedure have been established:
- the sale of goods (works, services) to business entities is carried out through a virtual cash register, which is a mandatory requirement;
- in case of payments using electronic means of payment in the field of e-commerce, an electronic check of the virtual cash register must be sent to the buyer indicating the recipient. The check shall be sent to:
- the personal telephone number; or
- the e-mail address; or
- the customer's personal account.
9. The Law introduces new procedures and rules with respect to distance selling of goods. Here are some of them:
- if it is not possible to determine the delivery date, the goods must be delivered within a period not exceeding 30 days from the date of acceptance;
- in case of detection of defects, the seller is obliged to replace the goods with similar one within 7 days, and if additional quality control by the seller is required, then within 20 days from the date of the request;
- in case of termination of the contract, it is the seller's responsibility to inform the buyer about the place where the return of the goods is to take place;
- in case of termination of the contract, if the seller fails to return the money paid by the buyer, the seller shall pay a penalty of 1% of the amount to be returned for each day of delay. The penalty shall not exceed the amount of money to be returned.
Authors:
- Dinara Tanasheva
- Nargiz Suleimenova
