The covid-19 lockdown has broken the seamless global supply chains. Producers, distributors, retailers, and consumers all have been trying to figure out new ways of delivering essential goods so that people can survive. American consumers alone spent $347.26 billion online with retailers, which is 30.1 percent up compared to the same period last year. E-commerce in Pakistan started in early 2000 but just three percent of population was buying online, which, now with the pandemic, has increased by 10 percent. Covid-19 has had a significant impact in e-commerce and sales are expected to reach $6.5 trillion by 2023, from an estimated $3.46 trillion in 2019. Consumers spent $2.93 trillion online in 2018. But in Nepal the government has arrested suppliers and delivery personnel.
Africa’s booming e-commerce relies on one of the most digitally connected populations on the planet, with 400 million active internet users. Consumers from remote areas also rely on e-commerce to save time and money in goods purchase. The ASEAN countries have already marched ahead in digital connectivity with an emphasis on data connectivity, logistics to facilitate the free flow of goods and services, connectivity to facilitate cash flows, and seamless links between the physical and cyber space. Online sales account for 15 percent of retail sales in China and 14 percent globally. Nepal is clearly on the wrong track.
E-commerce is the future path. But it is full of regulatory complexities with issues related to data privacy, consumer protection, delivery, cyber security, market access regulation, and digital payment. Any country that wants to walk on this path should start homework to address these regulatory challenges. Shutting down entire industry harms the economy and blocks the path of progress. Moreover, it has direct consequence on people’s lives in this time of pandemic. People have been locked in with the fear of the virus spreading. This could be the right time to let e-commerce boom.
E-commerce is not limited to serving domestic consumers. It is also being considered as a platform to better integrate regional trade. World Bank, in its flagship report in December 2019, says e-commerce can boost a range of economic indicators across South Asia, from entrepreneurship and job growth to higher gross domestic product (GDP), to overall productivity. The report’s lead economist and co-author Sanjay Kathuria claims that by unleashing its online trade potential South Asia can better integrate into international value chains, increase market access, and strengthen commercial links between countries across the sub-region. These words echo more in this pandemic as the brick-and-mortar old world is being shaken.
In Nepal, no law governs e-commerce while many other countries have moved much further in regulating it. In 1996, a Model Law on E-commerce (MLEC) was adopted by United Nations Commission on International Trade and Law (UNCITRAL), and later adopted by the assembly. The objective was to bring a uniform e-commerce international law and to bring electronic transactions at par with paper-based transactions. India, a UNCITRAL signatory, has established a new regulatory regime for e-commerce businesses by endorsing a slew of laws. As per the new Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules 2020 of Indian Federal Government, e-retailers must compulsorily display critical details of goods.
Nepal’s case is unique as there is neither a roadmap to enhancing e-commerce nor a foundation. State bureaucracy and police forces are acting as if e-commerce is a criminal activity. E-commerce businesses are mushrooming in Nepal up despite the state bullying. Hence, there is an urgent need for an effective regulatory mechanism to strengthen the legal infrastructure on e-commerce so that people’s time, money and most importantly lives of the self-isolating folks can be saved.
