Conditions and Procedures for E-commerce Websites and Applications to Operate in Vietnam

Question:

We are a company with 100% foreign capital. We currently own a sales e-commerce platform including 01 website and 01 application for the purpose of allowing customers to order and pay. Check out the air conditioning products that we distribute. We want to know whether these websites and applications have been allowed to operate in Vietnam, and do they need any permission?

Answer:

According to Vietnamese law, e-commerce websites and applications are allowed to operate legally if they fully meet the conditions and follow the correct procedures according to current regulations. Based on the information you provide, we provide the following analysis:

1. Set up a sales e-commerce website

1.1.  Conditions for Setting Up

For owners to set up a sales e-commerce website, they must meet the following two conditions:

• Being a merchant, organization, or individual who has been granted a personal tax identification number.
• Having notified the Ministry of Industry and Trade about the establishment of the e-commerce website or sales application.

According to the information you provided for your specific case:

• Your company is a 100% foreign-owned enterprise, legally established in Vietnam and has been granted a tax code, thus meeting the first condition.
• However, to complete, the company needs to carry out notification procedures with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to meet the second condition.

Legal basis: Article 52 of Decree 52/2013/ND-CP, amended and supplemented by Decree 08/2018/ND-CP.

• Notification process

The procedure for making notification is as follows:

Step 1: Register an account on the E-commerce Operations Management Portal. (If you already have an account, skip this step).

Step 2: Within 03 working days, receive results from the Ministry of Industry and Trade as follows:

• If the information is accepted, continue to log in to your account and proceed to step 3.
• If you are denied or request additional information, you must re-register and supplement as required.

Step 3: Log in to your account, select the "Notification" function and declare information according to the form, including:

• Domain name of the website;
• Type of goods and services introduced on the website;
• Registered name of the company;
• Address of the company's headquarters;
• Number, date of issue and place of issuance of the company's business registration certificate;
• Name, title, Citizen Identification Card, phone number and email address of the company representative;
• Other information according to regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Step 4: Within 03 working days, receive results from the Ministry of Industry and Trade as follows:

• If the information is valid, the profile is confirmed.
• If not valid, need to edit and resubmit from step 3.

Note:

• Track application status via email or system account.
• If you do not respond to the additional request within 10 working days, the application will be terminated and need to start again from step 3.

Legal basis: Clause 2, Article 9, Article 10, Circular 47/2014/TT-BCT, Clause 2, Article 53, Decree 52/2013/ND-CP.

2. E-commerce activities through sales applications

2.1. Condition

To operate e-commerce through sales applications, the following conditions must be met:

• First, notify the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
• Second, the application owner must be a trader, organization or individual who has a tax code.
• Third, provide complete information on the application including:
• Name and address of the owner;
• Phone number, email or other online contact method.

Notification Method: Online via the E-Commerce Management Portal.

• Fourth, comply with regulations on protecting consumer rights.
• Fifth, if the application has an online ordering function, it must be ensured that the contract is signed using the online ordering and online payment function via the mobile application.
• Sixth, if trading in conditional goods or services, it is necessary to publicly disclose documents proving business eligibility.

Legal basis: Article 5, Article 10, Clause 2, Article 11, Circular 59/2015/TT-BCT.

2.2.      Sales application notification process

The sales application notification process is similar to the e-commerce website notification process in section 1.2 above, with the information to be provided including:

• Application name;
• Storage address or download address of the sales application;
• Type of goods and services introduced on the sales application;
• Registered name of the company;
• Address of the company's headquarters;
• Number, date of issue and place of issuance of the company's business registration certificate;
• Name, title, Citizen Identification Card, phone number and email address of the company representative;

Legal basis: Clause 2, Article 9, Article 10, Circular 47/2014/TT-BCT, Article 11, Circular 59/2015/TT-BCT.

3. Conclusions

Your company needs to prepare complete documents and comply with the above procedures to ensure compliance with legal regulations when operating websites and e-commerce applications in Vietnam.

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