The Legal Aspect Of Doing Business Online

This is a ½-day virtual learning programme. Upon successful registration and payment, registrants will be sent a Zoom link and access details of the online workshop.

Overview

The advent of technology has enabled many businesses to create an online presence or move their business online and the published statistics increasingly reflect this. Further, amid the pandemic situation now, troubled brick-and-mortar retailers have been in the spotlight as consumers increasingly shun physical malls. e-Commerce is looking to be increasingly attractive as a complementary, or alternative business strategy. Other than sale of products, services offered online can range from consultancy, to employee search and deployment, to being an aggregator of sale and purchase of good and services. How are such businesses started ? What are the legal implications ? Are there any licensing requirements ? Are any Singapore laws being breached ? This ½-day workshop aims to explore these issues and address them from legal perspectives.

Course Outline

1. e-Commerce Activities

- What are the types of e-commerce activities out there? Merchant websites vs third party websites ?
- What is the range of activities? Running promotions with online merchants and platforms (e.g. Grab)
- What differences are there compared to the conventional brick-and-mortar businesses ?

2. Business structure / website

- Contractual implications, including Offer and Acceptance‎ i.e. how to draft offer and acceptance clauses
- Back-to-back contractual obligations and ensuring proper protection

3. Licensing & Permits

- What Business Licences‎ are required?
- Import and export permits and clearances from relevant competent authorities
- Prohibited goods

4. Consumer protection regime

- Products controlled for sale in Singapore
- Consumer electrical devices?
- Health products?
- Food regulations?
- Personal mobile devices?
- Consumer Protection and Rights

5. CPFTA-specific issues in relation to e-commerce

- Unfair practices
- Lemon laws
- Other dispute resolution mechanisms (Undertakings / Voluntary Compliance Agreements / Injunctions)

6. Personal Data Protection Act (“PDPA”) issues

- PDPA obligations
- NRIC collection
- Sharing of data on e-Commerce platforms
- PDPC rulings on e-Commerce cases

7. Competition Laws

- Collusion and price-fixing on e-commerce platforms
- Abuse of dominance (bundling/tying, loyalty discounts)

Learning Objectives

At the end of the workshop, participants would be able to gain a better understanding of the obligations, regulations and laws of conducting an online business

Who Would Benefit

Senior / middle management, working level executives who are already engaged or are planning to start an online business for their organisation

Meet The Trainers