Less than a week ago, the Serbian Parliament adopted a new regulatory framework for e-commerce in Serbia. And what attracted our attention the most is that the new law will apply to various “e-traders”, advertisers, agencies that offer online advertising services, and so on. As we mentioned in one of our previous blogs, in the new Law on Trade draft, important concepts of e-commerce such as dropshipping, e-stores and the ability to display prices in other currencies were mentioned for the first time..
Thus, with dropshipping, traders have the opportunity to sell via an electronic store or platform, not delivering the goods from its warehouse, but directly from the producer. E-shop or platform owners enter into a contractual relationship with the customer, but without having all the items on him.
Regulating these items was necessary for starting any business based on e-commerce, with many entrepreneurs avoiding any e-commerce actions because of these problems. Apart from the fact that these adjustments are very interesting for all future entrepreneurs, these e-commerce changes concern all advertisers, agencies that promote certain services or products through the Internet.
The part that regulates the collection of data states that without the explicit consent of a person we cannot offer any services or promote or sell a product. What remains unclear is how to adapt to the new situation and whether someone who has already given consent has to repeat this process, being on any contact or mail list.
Also, if a user is dissatisfied or considers he is being contacted without giving prior consent, how and where to report it? And if marketers are already submerged to these kinds of notifications, will they be able to defend themselves and whether they will receive any warning before facing any consequences or sanctions?
Regarding this, the legislator was quite vague in the formulation and states that:
“Sending a commercial message electronically is allowed only with the prior consent of the person to whom this type of message is intended. “Also,” the service provider is obliged to regularly check and accept the cancellation of a consent sent by a person who does not wish to receive such commercial messages.”
Around basic terms
What is a commercial message? It is by law every form of communication aimed at promoting goods, services or businesses performing a registered activity, except for:
- Providing information that enables immediate access to the activity of this person, such as information on his e-mail addresses;
- Giving, free of charge, information collected by research or other similar purposes, about the goods, services or business reputation of this person.
Furthermore, if this commercial is a partial or a whole service offered by some company, it must satisfy certain conditions. The first requirement is that any potential user can identify it and that the one in whose name it is sent can identify it as its own. All gifts and discounts, as well as any other promotional invitation from a commercial message, must be clear and unambiguous. This includes the conditions that must be met when placing commercial message bids- they must be easily accessible, presented clearly and unambiguously.
This seems rather demanding for a market that abounds in social media advertisements that contain some kind of prize game, offering discounts for products in exchange for likes and shares, etc.
But what caught our attention the most is the rule that the service provider is obliged to, “in the form and manner that is directly and continuously available, one has to provide the following information to all customers and competent government authorities.”
What does the service provider have to highlight?
It must indicate the name of the service provider, the service provider’s headquarters, the e-mail address, as well as other information about the service provider, for quickly and smoothly communication with the user.
Also, it must indicate the tax identification number (PIB), as well as the VAT number if the service provider is eligible for VAt.
Furthermore, it is important to point out all Business Registers Agency related data, or other public registries, concerning the specially regulated activity or profession, a professional association where the service provider is registered, its business name and a state that approved it.
About prices, if the seller or service provider displays them, they must be highlighted clearly and unambiguously, including the cost of delivery, taxes, and other costs that affect them.
This is a large number of legal provisions for activities that were almost unregulated so far. How will all these rules be implemented, how it will be controlled, and how the penal policy will be implemented, it remains unclear. Our country has not been a true rule of law fan, but perhaps this legislative framework will be a good basis for the self-regulation process, i.e. natural separation of dubious “gray” activities from those which are completely legal. It remains to be seen.
