Summary
Under the proposed regulations, the supervising authority, Malta Communications Authority (MCA), would be granted the power to settle disputes out of court between service providers and their customers. The regulations seek to establish compliance and to protect rights under the eCommerce Act
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http://www.di-ve.com/dive/portal/portal.jhtml?id=197065&pid=1
Details
Censu Galea, Minister for Competitiveness and Communications, has launched the public consultation document on proposed regulations under the eCommerce Act on Friday.
The Minister highlighted the importance of eCommerce by saying that it provides island states such as Malta with a very valid instrument to overcome the disadvantages that insularity imposes on their competitiveness.
The eCommerce Act was conceived back in 2000 with the intention of paving the way for the information society.
Since the setting up of the Act, Malta has witnessed a major uptake of e-commerce.
Statistics published by the National Office of Statistics (NSO) have in fact shown that by January 2003, 90 per cent of the enterprises that employ ten or more full-time employees were already providing online facilities over their website, with twenty per cent of these having also received orders via the Internet.
The proposed regulations establish a light but effective supervisory regime that serves to ensure that regulatory obligations are complied with whilst reinforcing the consumer rights already provided for by the eCommerce Act.
Under the proposed regulations, the Malta Communications Authority (MCA), as the supervising authority, would be granted powers to settle disputes out of court between service providers and their customers.
The MCA would also be authorized to take the necessary action to ensure compliance with the regulations by the service providers.
The regulations would also require the service providers to provide basic information to their customers so that these would know who they are dealing with and to introduce an appropriate level of transparency with regards online transactions.
Minister Censu Galea, while launching the public consultation document, urged all parties involved to participate by forwarding their suggestions.
Comments should reach the Ministry for Competitiveness and Communications in Santa Venera by October 31st, 2005.
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Wednesday, September 14, 2005
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