22
communications, e.g., requirements for the paper filing of
documents, etc.
3.0
Enforcement of Consumer Rights in e-Commerce
3.1
Objective:
• Ensuring that consumers in Botswana are not disadvantaged by the
use of e-commerce and have access to the same remedies and
protection that they would have in face-to-face transactions.
3.2
Issues:
• Ensuring that consumers are educated about their rights and what
they should expect from reliable vendors on the Internet.
• Developing a culture in Botswana where businesses operating on the
Internet adhere to high standards of consumer information and
protection.
• Developing the capacity to enforce consumer protection legislation,
in particular, developing the arrangements and capacity to co-operate
with enforcement colleagues in other jurisdictions.
• Providing and encouraging the provision of self-regulatory regimes
and dispute resolution mechanisms.
3.3
3.3.1
Discussion:
Whether consumers purchase locally or internationally through the
Internet, they should continue to have access to the same remedies for
defects or breaches of contract that they would have if they purchased in
person. Unfortunately, extra-territorial enforcement of consumer
protection laws presents a major challenge in the e-commerce
environment and has a continuing negative effect on the growth of
consumer trust and confidence in e-commerce. Private international law
is inadequate to deal with the problems of the average consumer and,
indeed, with all but the larger and more sophisticated of businesses.
3.3.2
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
approved Guidelines to help ensure that consumers receive the same
level of protection when they shop online as they do when they buy from
a local store or order from a catalogue.11 The Guidelines set out core
characteristics of effective consumer protection for on-line business
transactions and reflect existing legal protections available to consumers
in more traditional forms of commerce.
11
OECD Guidelines for Consumer Protection in the Context of Electronic Commerce
www.oecd.org/dataoecd/5/34/1824782.pdf