Electronic commerce system in Saudi Arabia
In an effort to enhance the reliability of e-commerce to increase its contribution to the national economy, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has approved a new system that stimulates and develops e-commerce activities in the Kingdom. The e-commerce system in Saudi Arabia includes 26 articles that provide the necessary protection for e-commerce transactions from fraud, deception, misleading and fraud, in a way that preserves the rights of the merchant and the e-shopper together.
E-commerce is an open market around the clock that saves time and effort for the online shopper to access all goods and services with a variety of options in a transparent and highly competitive environment to gain consumer confidence. A growth in the field of e-commerce in the world, with a growth rate of more than 32%. While the average volume of online spending per capita increased to 4,000 riyals, according to the reports of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the General Authority for Statistics.
Definition of e-commerce
The new system defines electronic commerce as: all electronic transactions with economic activity aimed at selling or exchanging products or services, or advertising them, or exchanging their data, and its provisions apply to the merchant or practitioner via electronic means, and the online shopper.
Articles of the electronic commerce system in Saudi Arabia
The system enhances the means of disclosing communication data with the online store or the activity practitioner in a way that preserves all rights, and shows the basic characteristics of goods and services. It also protects the personal data of the online shopper, determines its responsibility, and prevents its use for unauthorized or permitted purposes.
The system stresses the necessity of disclosing the place of business of the service provider specified in the commercial register, and if the practitioner of the activity does not have a place of business, the place of residence is taken. It also requires practitioners to comply with the provisions and obligations of licensed professions that require a license or permit to practice.
The e-commerce system requires service providers to provide data for electronic contracts explaining the terms and conditions of the contract, the procedures to be followed, price details, payment and delivery arrangements, execution, guarantee, if any, and others.
It regulates the right of the consumer to return the product within 7 days in the event of non-use, benefit from the service, or obtaining a benefit from any of them, with the exception of certain cases specified by the system, the most prominent of which are: the fact that the product is manufactured at the consumer’s request, or falls within the services of accommodation, transportation, feeding, and others. .
It also addresses the problem of delay in delivering products or obtaining services, and gives the consumer the right to cancel the purchase process if the service provider delays delivery or implementation for more than 15 days. Advertising when reported.
The e-commerce system is the first of its kind that regulates the relationship between consumers and e-commerce practitioners who do not have commercial records and engage in activity by obliging them to specify their workplaces, clarify their data through the online store, ensure the protection of consumer data and privacy, and document their commercial activity through One of the electronic store documentation platforms.
The e-commerce system in Saudi Arabia entrusted the Ministry of Commerce and Investment with the task of supervising the e-commerce sector and issuing the necessary rules to regulate it in a way that enhances the role of e-commerce and protects the safety of transactions in it.
The system stressed the formation of one or more committees to consider violations of the provisions of the system or its implementing regulations, and to punish the violator with one or more of the following penalties: warning, suspending the practice of activity “temporarily or permanently”, blocking the electronic store “partially or completely”, and a fine of up to one million In addition, the decision issued to determine the penalty may include a provision to publish its text at the expense of the violator in “one or more” local newspapers issued in his place of residence, or any other appropriate means.
Electronic commerce system in Saudi Arabia pdf
You can view the system document through the website of the Ministry of Commerce and Investment. Or you can download the e-commerce system in Saudi Arabia as a pdf from here.