The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications is pleased to provide our citizens who do online shopping with this guide about e-commerce.
Indeed, in view of the large use and remarkable progress of commercial transactions carried out via electronic communications in Algeria, the public authorities have framed these transactions through enacting law 05-18 dated on May 10th, 2018, which defines the general rules governing e-commerce.
Despite the framing of these commercial transactions, shoppers may face many hazards online like being victims of swindling and fraud. Some hazards relate to the software and equipment used in shopping, others concern the methods of payment. Besides, some others are connected with the process way and functioning of shopping in general. These hazards can be summarized as follow:
- The prevalence of many pages and platforms offering the consumer high-demand and very competitive goods and services at lower costs. Thus, the swindler receives payments or advance payments on his postal or bank account through money transfer service available on phone applications of financial institutions, without sending the product to the applicant in order to rip him off;
- The theft of e-shoppers’s identities or credit cards and use of their personal data to buy online, which leads the real holders of these cards to bear the payment of the costs of these goods and services;
- The import of goods prohibited in the local markets;
- The risk of hacking e-payment cards and personal data, mainly through anonymous e-mails, fake websites, unreliable applications and softwares;
- The risk of dealing with unidentified dealers due to the nature and specific feature of the commercial transaction in virtual space, likely to make it difficult to obtain a tangible proof in case of filing a complaint.
To avoid being a victim of swindling and fraud when shopping online, this guide has been created to highlight the hazards which the online shopper may face. It also includes guidelines for a safe shopping online in addition to guidelines about e-commerce transactions pursuant to the provisions of the aforementioned Law 05-18, enacted in conjunction with all the sectors and services concerned.
