Review of Malaysia’s electronic commerce law to be completed by March 2025

Following our earlier Alert on the ongoing review of laws relating to e-commerce, it was reported that the review is expected to be completed by March 2025.1
 
The Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, Datuk Seri Armizan Mohd Ali, shared that the e-commerce sector’s rapid growth and the rise of online entrepreneurship among Malaysians had sparked several issues requiring a review of existing e-commerce laws, such as the Consumer Protection Act 1999, Trade Descriptions Act 2011 and Consumer Protection (Electronic Trade Transactions) Regulations 2012.
 
Datuk Seri Armizan reiterated that “The existing laws on e-commerce are outdated and must be reviewed to bring them in line with advancement in technology and current digital programmes.” The Minister added that this would ensure sustainable growth of the sector while also protecting consumers.
 
The Minister also elaborated that the comprehensive review would include review on commission fees imposed by e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Lazada and TikTok. However, the review would not touch on issues relating to e-hailing or p-hailing platforms such as Grab or FoodPanda as they do not come under the Ministry’s purview.
 
Alert by Jillian Chia (Partner) and Beatrice Yew (Senior Associate) of the Intellectual Property Practice of Skrine.
 
 
 

1 E-commerce review on track; The Star Online; 25 October 2024.

This alert contains general information only. It does not constitute legal advice nor an expression of legal opinion and should not be relied upon as such. For further information, kindly contact skrine@skrine.com.