New legislation brings radical changes to Turkish law on the regulation of e-commerce

The widely anticipated Law no. 7416 amending Law no. 6563 on the Regulation of Electronic Commerce was adopted on 1 July 2022 and published in Official Gazette no. 31889 dated 7 July 2022 (“New Law”). The New Law, most of which will enter in force on 1 January 2023, aims to protect the competitive environment, prevent unfair commercial practices and monopolisation, and ensure a balanced and healthy growth of the e-commerce market in Turkey.

The New Law brings radical changes to the previous legislation, which will significantly affect the operations of sector players. It puts a particular focus on protecting e-commerce service providers in their relationship with intermediary service providers, while better defining the contours of the latter’s liability.

Both e-commerce intermediary service providers and e-commerce service providers will have to undertake a substantial compliance process to review their current operations and bring them in line with the new legal requirements. This may include amending their intermediary agreement, updating their electronic platforms and the manner in which they advertise their goods, closing down some of the services they currently provide, establishing mechanisms to monitor and remove unlawful content, and complying with new licensing and reporting obligations. The Ministry of Trade (“Ministry”) is expected to issue regulations to implement the New Law and shed light on some of the uncertainties left by the statutory provisions

“New legislation brings radical changes to Turkish law on the regulation of e-commerce”. You can reach the briefing here.