Review of Malaysia’s electronic commerce law completed, new law expected to be tabled in Parliament

31 October 2025

Following our earlier Alerts¹ on the ongoing review of laws relating to e-commerce, it was reported that the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (“MDTCL”) has completed its review of Malaysia’s e-commerce legal framework.² The review aims to strengthen the regulation of the sector, including foreign platform operators operating in Malaysia.

MDTCL Deputy Minister Datuk Dr Fuziah Salleh announced that the review, which began in April 2022 and was completed on 15 October 2025, encompasses three main thrusts and 12 areas of legal focus that will form the foundation for the formulation of a new e-commerce law. The Deputy Minister also shared that “the main focuses of this study are enhancing consumer protection, increasing fairness in transactions for all parties, and creating specific regulations for online transactions”.

While the full details of the proposed Bill have yet to be released, news reports suggest that the new law may include the following:

Promotion of fairness across the e-commerce ecosystem: The proposed Bill seeks to ensure fairness not only to consumers, but also for traders and platform operators in ensuring a more balanced e-commerce ecosystem.
Regulatory oversight of platform commission rates: MDTCL will be empowered to make it compulsory for platform operators to inform the MDTCL before implementing any increase in commission rates.
Authority to monitor cross-border transactions: MDTCL will be powered to monitor cross-border transactions, potentially in collaboration with other agencies, such as the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, including algorithm-related issues.

The proposed Bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament following Cabinet’s approval of the policy paper, which is currently being finalised. Although the Deputy Minister has not provided an indicative timeline for the Bill to be tabled³, businesses engaging in online trade, particularly foreign platform operators operating in Malaysia, should monitor developments closely and begin reviewing their compliance frameworks once sufficient details are available to do so.

Alert by Jillian Chia (Partner), Natalie Lim (Partner) and Beatrice Yew (Senior Associate) of the Intellectual Property Practice of Skrine.

¹ Malaysia’s new electronic commerce law to be tabled in Parliament in early 2026 – Update No. 3 (22 July 2025); Review of Malaysia’s electronic commerce law nears completion, expected by August 2025 (23 June 2025); Review of Malaysia’s electronic commerce law to be completed by March 2025 (7 November 2024); Minister: Malaysia’s electronic commerce law under review (15 July 2024).

² Domestic Trade Ministry completes review of e-commerce laws, proposes regulating foreign platforms; The Edge Malaysia, 28 October 2025.

³ The MDTCL Minister had previously indicated that the new Bill will be tabled in the Malaysian Parliament during its first session in 2026 (Malaysia’s new electronic commerce law to be tabled in Parliament in early 2026 – Update No. 3 (22 July 2025)).

This article/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.

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Review of Malaysia’s electronic commerce law completed, new law expected to be tabled in Parliament