VCCI proposes to reduce procedures for small e-commerce platforms

Consumers need to research carefully before choosing to buy products on digital platforms to ensure personal rights. Photo: Hoang Quan

Specifically, regarding licensing procedures, requiring all e-commerce platforms, regardless of scale and form of operation, to apply for a license before operating is unreasonable. According to VCCI, this regulation is not suitable for small platforms or start-up platforms.

In the field of social networks with similar nature and impact, the law allows for looser management for small social networks (only need to notify if the number of visits is low, license when large enough). This regulation is also considered inappropriate for the nature of the floor's operations.

Some platforms only allow sellers to post product information, while transactions (contracts, payments, shipping) are all done through other methods such as phone, texting, etc. These platforms are just an advertising and marketing channel, which can be imagined as an "online classifieds billboard". Important steps in the transaction process do not take place on the platform, so there are not many risks in this operating model.

Also according to VCCI, after more than a decade of development, e-commerce has become an inevitable trend with the participation of many businesses and individuals.

Inspection and monitoring methods are increasingly improved, along with the knowledge and skills of consumers being improved. Therefore, relevant agencies need to research and redefine the risks of e-commerce activities to cut down on administrative procedures and promote post-inspection activities.

E-commerce websites are essentially a new sales channel on the internet, not a new business. Merchants have already had to carry out business registration procedures, certify business conditions and product quality with the State before. Therefore, VCCI believes that requiring additional procedures for online sales channels creates unnecessary administrative burdens.

Although Decree 85/2021/ND-CP has reduced the scope of websites with online ordering functions that must be notified, this reduction is not very meaningful according to VCCI, because setting up a sales website is very popular (44% of businesses own websites, of which 42% have online ordering functions). The number of notification files is very large, up to 105,103 files in 2023.

At the same time, there has been no reflection on the negative socio -economic impact of businesses not registering e-commerce websites to sell products. Thus, these procedures do not bring clear state management benefits, and even become barriers for traders.

Therefore, VCCI proposed to completely abolish the notification procedure for e-commerce websites and switch to a post-audit method to control the operations of these sites.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/vcci-de-xuat-giam-thu-tuc-cho-san-thuong-mai-dien-tu-nho-708270.html