Everything you need to know about e-commerce in Kazakhstan
Everything you need to know about e-commerce in Kazakhstan
We live in a time when people have an opportunity to make their purchases without leaving their homes. Just find what you need on the Internet, make a payment, and it will be delivered to your doorstep. Although traditional visits to the shopping malls are still here, the reality showed us that game could change overnight. Pandemic and total isolation made e-commerce indispensable. The companies that took the trouble and prepared for online selling are ready for this new trend in business.
In this article, we would like to shed light on the legislative regulation of e-commerce in Kazakhstan.
E-commerce is an entrepreneurial activity in the trading of goods and services with the use of information and communication technologies. The most accessible and most popular means of e-commerce are through websites, mobile applications, as well as social networks.
The following information should be provided while selling online:
Information on the goods. This information shall include the main consumer characteristics of the goods. For food items, this information should include nutrition, biological, and energy value of the product, as well as information about intolerances in case of some preexisting conditions.
Price. Pricing shall be in tenge.
Means of payment. Payment could be made in cash or by a transfer. In addition, if at the store you are offered any other ways to pay, like to pay by installments, the same offer should be provided through e-commerce.
Terms and cost of delivery. Taking into consideration the fact that your potential customers could be residents of other cities and regions, or even countries, it will be necessary to clearly define the conditions of delivery, terms, and costs for the local customers and the residents of other regions and countries.
Warranty term (if applicable).
While trading online, the seller shall:
•\tInclude in its electronic offer important conditions of the contract or specifies the ways to determine them;
•\tInclude in its electronic offer information about signing procedure of the contract;
•\tIssue the invoice.
Upon delivery of the goods or its pickup, a document confirming the fact of the goods acquisition must be issued to the consumer. Such a document may be a sales receipt or a receipt for an incoming cash order, a receipt for a tear-off coupon, a duly executed technical passport, another document containing information about the name, price of goods, date of acquisition, the seller (manufacturer). This document could be issued electronically if there is no delivery required, for example, a purchase of the digital, intangible products.
The consumer has a right to exchange or return and get a refund for electronically purchased goods within 14 days, just like in the case of a regular purchase at the store. You must provide the receipt, and the products shall not be used and have a pristine appearance.
E-commerce allows us to pay with digital currency. The digital currency is issued by the banks and the national post office. For the sake of the functioning of the digital currency, they can enter into the contracts with operators of the digital currency.
You can operate your e-commerce business from your account on social media networks. In case you already have an online resource (for example, your main online store)you can do it by posting a link to this store along with the information for consumers about the goods, name of the seller, its legal address, contact telephone number registered with cellular operators of RoK.
In e-commerce, the consumers’ rights and interests are protected at the same level as in other forms of trade. The sellers bear the same level of liability as to their colleagues in the traditional form of the trade.
Usually, in case of violations, the same measures of liability are applied to the online sellers as to the regular ones.
However, there are some omissions in the current regulation in Kazakhstan that do not allow us to define the liability for some violations in the e-commerce, for example, if the link to the online store is missing in the social network publication.
