You are using an outdated browser and your browsing experience will not be optimal. Please update to the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Install Microsoft Edge

September 21, 2023

Myanmar Issues Guidelines for E-commerce Businesses

Subscribe to Updates

Myanmar’s Ministry of Commerce has announced its E-commerce Guidelines to regulate stakeholders engaging in e-commerce. The guidelines—which were issued on September 5, 2023, and took immediate effect—are mandatory for e-commerce business operators (both entities and individuals), and failure to comply with the guidelines’ requirements may result in penalties under relevant laws.

The E-commerce Guidelines come as Myanmar seeks to increase its regulation of e-commerce activities. The guidelines were preceded by a July 2023 notification requiring e-commerce business operators to register their activities with the Ministry of Commerce by January 21, 2024.

Definitions

“E-commerce” is defined as the sale of goods or services on the internet or other digital platforms. The term also covers sales promotions, marketing, logistics, ordering, and delivery. An “e-commerce platform entrepreneur” is a person who manages an e-commerce platform where two or more entrepreneurs can conduct e-commerce. An “e-commerce business operator” is a person operating or authorized to operate e-commerce activities. This includes e-commerce platform entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs selling on e-commerce platforms, and sellers through social media platforms.

Electronic Contracts

Acceptable forms of electronic contracts, which must comply with the Electronic Transactions Law, Contract Act, and other relevant laws, include:

  • Click-wrap, click-through, and web-wrap contracts;
  • Browse-wrap contracts; and
  • Agreements between seller and buyer on social media platforms, such as by accepting or rejecting an offer via direct message.

Samples of contract forms are appended to the guidelines.

Consumer Protection

Disclosure notices for consumers must be comprehensible, correct, consistent, simple, accessible, and visible. They can be written in Myanmar language, English, or Myanmar language and another language. They must also comply with the relevant provisions of the Consumer Protection Law.

The guidelines provide that if the agreed delivery date is eclipsed by more than 15 days, the consumer may terminate the contract and request a full refund of payment unless the contract specifically provides otherwise. To address problems like returns, refunds, and exchanges, e-commerce operators must establish clear, equitable, and transparent procedures or mechanisms to handle complaints and facilitate compensation for damage.

Marketing and Advertising

E-commerce business operators must ensure that their marketing and advertising of goods and services on online platforms comply with the Consumer Protection Law and the Competition Law. The guidelines also include provisions on native ads with a similar form or function to the media content being published (for example, promotional ads and paid ads published on Facebook), paid endorsements from digital influencers and celebrities, and advertising restrictions aimed at vulnerable groups (i.e., the elderly, children, and persons of unsound mind).

Additionally, e-commerce business operators must promote consumer education and awareness of rights, responsibilities, and online consumer procedures by including a link on their website that directs consumers to resources relating to consumer education programs or government-run programs.

Dispute Resolution

Disputes with consumers on online platforms must be settled in compliance with the Consumer Protection Law. The guidelines also recommend that e-commerce platform entrepreneurs and e-commerce business operators consider establishing internal complaint-handling mechanisms and taking advantage of alternative dispute resolution methods, as resolving domestic and transborder consumer complaints directly with the business operator rather than resolving them in the courts plays an important role in consumer dispute and redress systems. Consumer satisfaction-measuring systems or other conflict management systems should be included in such mechanisms.

Online Consumer Ratings and Reviews

Under the guidelines, e-commerce business operators may not:

  • Make use of ratings and reviews that are not written by an actual user of the product; or
  • Prevent consumers from posting honest reviews and ratings that are unfavorable.

E-commerce business operators are required to be open and honest about how ratings and reviews are handled. They must disclose the schedule, the rating and aggregate score standards, and the justifications for accepting or rejecting particular reviews.

Payment Terms and Conditions

Online payment service providers must provide customers with a record of their transactions for the last three years free of charge upon request, and e-commerce business operators must keep evidence of purchase and payment records for at least three years.

Additionally, payment service providers are liable for making up for any losses that consumers incur resulting from fraudulent transactions or security lapses that weren’t due to their own negligence.

Intellectual Property

E-commerce business operators must avoid any kind of direct intellectual property infringement under the Trademark Law, Industrial Design Law, Patent Law, and Copyright Law. E-commerce platform entrepreneurs must take necessary steps to take down infringing content related to goods and services sold on their platform. Failing to perform such a necessary takedown action will be deemed as the e-commerce platform entrepreneur having the same responsibility for the infringement as the relevant e-commerce entrepreneur.

The guidelines also broadly mention rules that both e-commerce business operators and consumers must follow:

  • Basic principles of protecting privacy and personal data;
  • Cybersecurity rules;
  • Taxation and minimum pricing rules; and
  • Transborder e-commerce rules.

For more details on Myanmar’s latest rules and requirements for e-commerce, please contact Tilleke & Gibbins at [email protected].

Related Professionals

Industries

Consumer Products

Technology

Practices

Regulatory Affairs

Location

RELATED INSIGHTS​ 

August 11, 2026
On July 27, 2026, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) released a draft decree proposing amendments to Decree No. 52/2024/ND-CP dated May 15, 2024, on non-cash payments (Decree 52). The draft decree would amend 17 of Decree 52’s 38 articles, with several key changes directly affecting providers of intermediary payment service (IPS). The key proposed changes affecting IPS providers are outlined below. Streamlining IPS Licensing Procedures A central objective of the draft decree is to simplify regulatory procedures for IPS providers. Notably, it would significantly reduce IPS licensing documentation requirements by removing the need to submit enterprise registration certificates, investment registration certificates, and documents evidencing the qualifications of the legal representative and general director. Instead, the SBV would retrieve this information directly from national business registration and other specialized databases, requesting additional documents only where the relevant information cannot be verified electronically or is incomplete. The draft decree also removes the current limit of two rounds for dossier supplementation and shortens processing timelines for several IPS licensing procedures such as issuance, amendment, and reissuance of IPS licenses. The processing time for new IPS license applications would be thereby reduced from 90 to 60 working days. In addition, several continuing IPS business conditions would be removed. For example, IPS providers would no longer be required to maintain certain representations relating to corporate restructuring or the legality of contributed capital. Likewise, the IPS project plan (đề án) would become a one-time application document rather than an ongoing licensing condition. If retained in the final decree, this change could provide IPS providers with significantly greater flexibility to implement post-licensing technology upgrades, system integrations, and corporate restructuring transactions without needing to revisit the originally approved project plan. The draft decree also removes the requirement for the SBV to consult the Ministry of Public
Read More
August 10, 2026
Thailand has finalized its social media KYC (“know your customer”) rules under Notification of the Electronic Transactions Commission on Measures to Prevent Technological Crimes for Social Media Service Providers (No. 2), which was published in the Government Gazette on May 5, 2026, and will take effect on November 1, 2026. While an early draft of the notification proposed requiring social media platforms to arrange identification of every user account, the final notification is significantly more targeted, focusing on paid online advertising and advertiser identity verification. Though the regulatory initiative primarily aims to combat online fraud and technology-related crimes, it also has important consequences for intellectual property enforcement, because the verified platform records that will be generated under the new requirements can help IP rights holders to identify anonymous online infringers. Key Regulatory Mandates The notification requires social media service providers to verify the identity of advertisers before their paid advertisements are published and disseminated in Thailand through social media, regardless of whether the advertising fees come from the advertisers or third parties. Verification of an advertiser is valid for one year, after which verification would have to be performed again before the platform could publish additional paid advertisements from the advertiser. Permitted verification methods are specified under the notification. A platform may verify an advertiser by checking identity evidence and confirming the connection between the advertiser and that identity evidence, with the notification giving facial comparison against certain government-issued identity documents as an example. Alternatively, platforms may verify advertisers through a digital identity verification and authentication system with an identity-proofing assurance level not lower than the level prescribed by Thailand’s Electronic Transactions Commission. The notification further requires platforms to retain only the advertiser’s information necessary to identify the advertiser, beginning from the start of the advertising activity and for
Read More
August 10, 2026
On July 31, 2026, Thailand’s Big Data Institute (BDI) launched a public consultation on the principles of a proposed new data-sharing law, with comments accepted until August 31, 2026. If enacted, the law would establish Thailand’s first comprehensive framework for government and private-sector data sharing, creating a systematic, secure, and transparent regime to support analytics, policymaking, research, and innovation. Central Data-Sharing Platform The draft law establishes a central system for data sharing, managed by the BDI. Government agencies would be required to connect to the BDI’s Data Integration and Intelligence Platform (also referred to as D2), in accordance with the BDI’s rules and procedures. Five Dimensions of Data Sharing The draft law covers five key types of data sharing between government (G), businesses (B), and consumers (C): G2B: Private organizations may request government data specifically for research and development purposes. The BDI will assess the applicant’s data governance, security, and privacy capabilities whether such measures meet prescribed standards before forwarding the request to the relevant government agency within 90 days. Any dispute may be escalated to a newly established Data-Sharing Promotion Committee for final determination. G2G: Government agencies may request data from other agencies through the central system. The data-holding agency must respond within 90 days, taking legality, necessity, proportionality, public interest, and personal data protection into account. Disputes may be referred to the Data-Sharing Promotion Committee for adjudication. B2G: In emergency situations involving public safety, economic security, or disaster response, the Minister of Digital Economy and Society may require private entities to provide data through the central data-sharing system. Government agencies must specify the data requested, demonstrate its necessity and expected benefits, and request only data reasonably available to the data holder. Requests for personal data must be limited to the minimum amount necessary. B2C: Royal decrees may
Read More
August 10, 2026
Thailand’s Office of the Personal Data Protection Committee (PDPC) recently released draft guidance on records of processing activities (ROPA) for personal data controllers and processors under the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019) (PDPA). The draft guidance, which was presented to the public on July 7, 2026, addresses both controller records of collection, use, and disclosure of personal data and processor records of processing activities carried out on behalf of controllers. If implemented, the guidance will significantly expand organizational expectations for ROPA preparation, maintenance, and use across all sectors. Key Takeaways The draft guidance contains several important implications for organizations subject to the PDPA: ROPA reframed as a core accountability tool. The guidance elevates ROPA from an administrative record to a central accountability mechanism, connecting controller duties with recordkeeping obligations. ROPA as a source for privacy notices and governance documents. ROPA should serve as the primary source for privacy notices and align with consent management, retention schedules, DPIAs, incident response plans, and vendor contracts. Expanded scope across all activities. ROPA must cover all processing activities across the organization—including security, finance, HR, and external contractors—with correct controller or processor classification for each. Ongoing maintenance and auditability. ROPA must be updated for any change to systems, purposes, or processors, reviewed at least annually, and maintained with version control and a designated owner. Enhanced vendor, processor, and cross-border transfer requirements. Organizations must document all processors, external recipients, and cross-border transfers, specifying purposes, access scope, and destination countries. Linkage with risk assessment, DPIAs, and LIAs. ROPA should assign risk levels to each activity and identify when data protection impact assessments (DPIAs) or legitimate interests assessments (LIAs) are required, functioning as a risk-management tool. ROPA and data breach readiness. Incomplete ROPA can delay breach response and notification. Organizations should map data flows, vendors,
Read More