Turkey: The Law Amending The Law On The Regulation Of Electronic Commerce Has Been Published In The Official Gazette

Pursuant to the Law, those whose activities are regulated by the following laws shall not be considered as electronic commerce intermediary service provider and electronic commerce service provider:

• The Law Concerning Travel Agencies and the Association of Travel Agencies
• Turkish Civil Aviation Law
• The Law on Private Pension Savings and Investment Systems
• Banking Law
• Insurance Law
• Law on Financial Leasing, Factoring, Financing and Saving Financing Companies
• Capital Market Law
• Law on Payment and Securities Settlement Systems, Payment Services and Electronic Money Institutions
• Electronic Communications Law

Also pursuant to the Law:

• Net transaction volume is defined as, the sum of the final invoice values or the values of the documents substituting the invoice, which are required to be issued by all service providers for electronic commerce intermediary service providers in electronic commerce marketplaces where they provide intermediary services; and as for electronic commerce service providers, for the sales made in a certain period in its own electronic commerce medium that do not have characteristics of an electronic commerce marketplace, excluding cancellations and returns.
• Economic integration is defined as, a person directly or indirectly holding at least twenty five percent of the shares or the majority of the voting rights of a commercial company or holding shares enabling it to obtain resolutions to manage the commercial company; having the rights to elect the majority of members that can obtain resolutions in the management organ per the articles of association; constituting the majority of the voting rights alone or along with other shareholders apart from its own voting rights as part of an agreement or holding the commercial company under its control within the scope of an agreement or, depending on the circumstances, the relationship between all commercial companies and businesses belonging to this person, or the management of more than one commercial company by the same person or people, regardless of whether they are shareholders or not.

With the amendment, electronic commerce intermediary service providers are obligated to remove the content immediately and to inform the authorized public institutions in the case that they recognize that the service providers offer unlawful content on their platforms.

Pursuant to the Law, the following activities shall be considered as unfair commercial practices in any case:

• Failure to make the payment required to be made to the electronic commerce service provider for the sale of goods or services in full within five working days from the latest the sale price is at the disposal of the electronic commerce intermediary service provider and the order delivered to the buyer.
• Forcing the electronic commerce service provider to sell promotional goods or services, including the unilateral change in the sales price by the electronic commerce intermediary service provider.
• The conditions of the commercial relationship with the electronic commerce service provider not being determined by a written or electronic intermediation agreement, or it is not ensured that the agreement is clear and easily accessible by the electronic commerce service provider.
• Making retroactive or unilateral amendments in the provisions of the intermediation agreement to the detriment of the electronic commerce service provider or including any provision enabling this situation in the intermediation agreement.
• Receiving a fee from the electronic commerce service provider, in case no service is provided, or the type of service and the amount or rate of the service fee are not specified in the intermediation agreement.
• Although no objective criteria are included in the intermediation agreement or on the grounds that an application has been made to public institutions or judicial authorities, relegation of the electronic commerce service provider in the ranking or recommendation system; restriction, suspension, or termination of the services which are provided to the electronic commerce service provider.

Additionally, electronic commerce intermediary service providers shall not be entitled to advertise and sell their own brands on their own platforms.

Electronic commerce intermediary service providers with a net transaction volume of:

• Ten billion Turkish lira in a calendar year are obliged to obtain a license,
• Thirty billion Turkish liras and with a number of transactions over one hundred thousand excluding cancellations and refunds in a calendar year shall be imposed to advertising, advertising budget and discount budget restrictions.
• Sixty billion Turkish liras and with a number of transactions over one hundred thousand excluding cancellations and refunds in a calendar year shall be obliged not to switch mediums.

Pursuant to the Law:

• Administrative fines from ten thousand Turkish liras to one hundred thousand Turkish liras shall be imposed on the electronic commerce intermediary service provider for each electronic commerce service provider on which unfair practices are applied.
• An administrative fine of five hundred thousand Turkish liras shall be applied to the electronic commerce intermediary service provider for each electronic commerce service provider, in the event that the electronic commerce service provider is forced to sell goods or services with a campaign, including unilateral changes in the sales price by the electronic commerce intermediary service provider.

Lastly, the Law shall enter into force as of 01.01.2023 and the licensing obligation of the electronic commerce service provider and the electronic commerce intermediary service provider must be fulfilled as of 01.01.2025.