On September 3, 2015 the Parliament of Ukraine adopted the Law of Ukraine “On E-Commerce” (registration No. 0957). On September 14, 2015 the Law was sent to the President of Ukraine for signature.
KEY NOVELTIES OF THE LAW
The Law introduces such legal definitions as “electronic trading”, “e-commerce”, “electronic transaction”, “electronic contract”, “Internet shop” (online shop), which will make legally clear the Internet trading rules and will set specific requirements for the activities of Internet shops and their relations with consumers.
The Law establishes specific requirements to the contents of commercial electronic messages, the terms of electronic contracts, the procedure for their execution and confirmation of such execution.
The Internet shops should provide consumers with the detailed information about the sellers of goods/works/services in e-commerce. E-commerce shall be carried out in compliance with the personal data protection legislation.
Along with the electronic digital signature, the parties may sign the electronic contract using two more IT tools which identify the parties to such contract:
- one-time identifier – this is normally an alphametrical code, which is communicated to the buyers’ mobile telephone or e-mail address; or
- analogue of a personal signature – this is normally a facsimile reproduction of a signature with the written consent of the parties.
The Law also sets the specific requirements to the suppliers of services that have an intermediate character (they include telecommunication providers, payment services operators, registrars and administrators that assign web IDs (in particular, IP adresses and domain names), if they mediate Internet trading relations.
Payments in the e-commerce sphere may be made using payment tools, electronic money, money transfer, cash and other payment methods stipulated by the applicable laws of Ukraine.
In order to avoid disputes with regulatory authorities and consumers we recommend companies that have their own online shopsto verify whether their existing legal, organisational and technical procedures of Internettrading comply with thisLaw.
Vasil Kisil & Partners provides advice on e-commerce, personal data protection, and intellectual property protection and is ready to support innovative business models or projects of any complexity.
Author: Vladyslav Podolyak