“To fix the trust and protection-related issues, concerned bodies must take action to thwart such frauds,” said Amtul Matin.
“In Pakistan, the legislation for e commerce regulation still needs improvements in proportion to the increase in the digital market size”, The statement was made by Ph.D. Scholar Amtul Matin in her recent research.
The e-commerce model is said to run on the trust of the customers. Consumer protection is thus one of the main problems preventing its growth. “To fix the trust and protection-related issues, concerned bodies must take action to thwart such frauds,” Amtul Matin further added.
Pakistan’s first E-Commerce Policy was unveiled in October 2019 with the goal of promoting e-commerce growth within the country and focusing on cross-border e-trade.
The policy aims to provide a supportive environment for the development and use of the internet in the country. It is expected to bring benefits such as increased access to goods and services, job creation, and economic growth.
According to experts, “The main objective of this policy was to suggest and put into action policy measures that will promote the holistic growth of e-Commerce in Pakistan by lowering business costs and thereby boosting the local digital economy.”
The government has also taken some steps to address these issues by launching an e-commerce portal to serve as a platform for discussion and addressing e-commerce-related concerns.
Online fraud in Pakistan can take many different forms. This includes phishing scams, in which thieves send fake emails or messages pretending to be from well-known banks or e-commerce websites in an effort to trick users into disclosing sensitive information like passwords and credit card numbers.
“This kind of fraud is most common in Pakistan, where scammers employ a variety of techniques to try and obtain the personal information of their victims,” said an expert.
Another widespread fraud is the sale of counterfeit goods, frequently at lower costs but of lower quality. Additionally, there are phoney websites that impersonate real e-commerce websites in an effort to deceive users into providing personal and financial information or making purchases.
Payment fraud is another issue, in which thieves deceive customers into using phoney payment gateways or take their credit card data while the transaction is being processed.
Shipping fraud is a typical example of how con artists trick consumers into paying for goods that are either never delivered or significantly different from what was advertised.
“A client using different shipping addresses, an unexpected switch to a Post office box, or multiple orders coming from a region or country from which you have never previously received orders are all indicators that e-commerce fraud may be occurring,” said an expert on how to spot e commerce shipping fraud.
To sum up, Pakistan’s legal system for combating e-commerce fraud consists of a number of laws and rules. The country’s use of electronic transactions is regulated by the Electronic Transactions Ordinance (ETO) of 2002, which also offers a legal framework for e-commerce operations.
Pakistan’s use of information technology is governed by the Information Technology Act of 2000, which includes safeguards against fraud and Cyber Crime.
Consumers are safeguarded from fraud and other types of exploitation in e-commerce transactions by the Consumer Protection Act of 2019. The government organisation in charge of investigating and prosecuting cybercrime in Pakistan is the FIA Cyber Crime Wing.
Consumer protection, dispute resolution, and intellectual property rights are just a few of the legal issues that online transactions in Pakistan bring up.
Though some steps have been taken by the government to address these issues, more must still be done in terms of implementation and enforcement. But the fact is that Pakistani e-commerce regulation is still in its early stages means that there are still a lot of legal issues that need to be resolved.