1. Presented by Mr. Trinh Anh Tuan Deputy Director General Vietnam Competition Authority CONSUMER PROTECTION IN E-COMMERCE - UPDATES IN VIETNAM

2. 1.Vietnamese consumers & E-commerce 2.Regulations to protect E-commerce consumers in Vietnam 3. Consumer cases handled by the VCA related to e-commerce OUTLINE

3. 1. Vietnamese consumers & E-commerce E-commerce in Vietnam (2014) Source: VECITA  Online shopping is a growing trend in Vietnam

4. 1. Vietnamese consumers & E-commerce What problems Vietnamese online shoppers always face with?

5. Law on Consumer Protection (enforced in 2011) Art 6. Protection of consumers’ information Consumers’ information is protected in entering transactions of purchase, use of goods or services, unless authorized agencies make requirement. Art 20. Responsibilities in providing evidence of transactions In case of e-transactions, business individuals and organizations are obliged to help the consumers accessing, downloading, keeping and printing invoice. 2. Regulations to protect E-commerce consumers in Vietnam

6. Decree No. 52/2013/ND-CP on E-commerce Circular No.12/2013/TT-BCT on the procedure of notification, registration and publicizing information related to E-commerce websites 2. Regulations to protect E-commerce consumers in Vietnam

7.  The E-commerce sellers must comply with the Consumer Protection Law when provide goods and services (Art. 26, Decree No.52).  Consumers buying goods and services online are protected by Consumer Protection Law. PRINCIPLES TO PROTECT E- CONSUMERS

8. Most of complaints received: related to online shopping on social webpages (e.g. group page on Facebook, local social forum, etc. ) Complaints are about: non-delivery, products/ services of bad quality, not as good as advertised online; receiving scam message (personal info. loss) E.g.: a consumer bought a watch advertised online as authentic. After the payment, the watch was shipped to the consumer and he realized that it is a fake one. 3. E-consumer cases handled by the VCA

9. Such cases are difficult to settle because: -Consumers were failed to present valid invoice/ proof of payment -Communication between seller and consumers are via emails/ online messages -The prevalence of social websites under the mask of networking purpose  difficult to manage and control 3. E-consumer cases handled by the VCA

10. SOLUTION: Educate consumers about their rights and obligations  be a smart consumer Manage E-commerce operation via the notification and registration procedure Publicize the list of e-commerce websites granted Trustmark/ in violations of the law Concerted action from relevant state agencies 3. E-consumer cases handled by the VCA

11. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION For more information, please contact: VIETNAM COMPETITION AUTHORITY Address: 25 Ngo Quyen, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi Email: tuanta@moit.gov.vntuanta@moit.gov.vn Tel: +84 438262551