Significant changes to consumer protection legislation in the UAE will significantly impact UAE e-commerce businesses.
The law, coming into effect from October 14 as part of Executive Regulations of Federal Law No. 15/2020 will oblige e-commerce suppliers registered in the UAE to provide both consumers and relevant authorities with details about the supplier’s identity, under Article 25 of the Law.
Article 40 of the Executive Regulations has heightened this requirement by prescribing that standard specifications about the nature of the commodity being sold via the online trader should also be provided.
The article also places additional obligations on e-commerce retailers to provide all applicable documentation to demonstrate a commodity’s conformity with relevant laws and include the corresponding (as the case may be) conformity mark on their website. Moreover, this Article places the responsibility on the supplier for any failure in the commodity offered by any third party who offers goods on the e-commerce supplier’s website.
Given the additional obligations on suppliers and improved rights for consumers, both the Executive Regulations and the Law must be reviewed together.
In recent years, the UAE’s e-commerce sector has enjoyed mammoth growth.
The UAE’s e-commerce market is expected to reach $9.2 billion by 2025, according to the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, while the sector’s share of total retail sales in the Emirates is projected to reach 12.6 per cent by the same year, propelled by the country’s high internet and smartphone penetration rate.
