Legal basis

• Law on Electronic Transactions 2005
• Decree 52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce
• Decree 85/2021/ND-CP amending Decree 52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce

Content

Electronic contracts are specific to transactions established remotely. An electronic contract is a process and has two theoretically defined stages: offer and acceptance. These stages are created through the process of sending and receiving different data messages about the intentions of the parties.

According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, an electronic contract consists of two parts:

• An offering instrument whereby one party offers to enter into a commercial contractual relationship by electronic means and sends it to the other party; or arrange for the other party to have the terms under which the offering instrument is prepared to perform. The tool can also be used by a number of people, who find the original terms unacceptable and send a new offer to the first sender with suggested changes.
• The acceptance is submitted by the acceptor to the terms offered in the offer if the terms are accepted.

The parties may choose to engage in negotiation of the content of the electronic contract prior to delivering the instrument of the offer in a mutually acceptable form and documenting the terms agreed.

The electronic contract is signed by the combination and exchange of the offer and acceptance tool and does not require any further procedures. The signing is not required since the terms of the contract between the parties are already clear from the exchange of these two instruments.

However, care should be taken in keeping these tools for execution. Both instruments must be recorded and kept by the parties. Evidence and arbitration provisions in some countries require a written document and must be signed. Therefore, these provisions need to be taken into account when implementing.

As mentioned above, electronic contracts are specific to transactions established remotely. In this relationship, consumers are always in a weak position compared to service and goods providers. This weakness stems from the very method of contracting: must use remote communication (via website, email or chat room…). Consumers may lack information about the actual situation or the law governing the contractual relationship. This feature is the cause of inequality between the parties. It is easy to see that, when buying any item (for example, clothes) through a website, consumers do not have the opportunity to check the color, size or material of the clothes like when buying in a store. fashion, can directly try on, touch the item or hold it to the light. When buyers and sellers do not directly meet to negotiate and inspect purchased and sold goods, consumers are likely to be at risk from this transaction. For example, because the information exchanged between two parties is not clear, consumers may receive goods that are not what they originally thought and expected. On the other hand, in fact, most of the electronic contracts exist in the form of model contracts, so the position of remote consumers is weaker because they do not have the right to negotiate, trade.

Despite such inequality between the parties, despite the asymmetry of information and bargaining power between such parties, although the process and method of concluding an electronic contract are different. such a difference, but not all netizens understand. Therefore, it is necessary to have legal intervention to protect the interests of consumers – the weak party in the electronic contract relationship.

Above is our consultancy about this issue. If you need more detailed advice and answers as well as how to access this service, please contact directly the Deputy Director of Sales: Lawyer Nguyen Duc Trong via hotline: 0912.35.65.75, 0912.35.53.53 or call the free legal consultation hotline 1900.6575 or send a service request via email: info@hongbanglawfirm.com hoặc lienheluathongbang@gmail.com

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