E-commerce is one of the most sought after channels of trade in the present business environment, an opportunity that no industry can ignore. But, given the anonymous architecture of e-commerce, it is critical to take every possible measure to establish best practices so as to bring transparency and disclosure at every stage of the transaction. This is quintessential to uphold trust and confidence in the e-commerce ecosystem. Today's e-commerce markets are characterized by a plethora of products from across the globe, with each entity adopting it's own preferred modes of conveying information and user agreements on its platform.

This Course on “Building E-commerce—The Legal Implements” provides a structured framework that encompasses the key e-commerce concepts and goes on to discover the legal nature of e-commerce contracts and outlines the key terms to be considered while drafting agreements relevant to the e-commerce business.

Instructor

PRATIMA NARAYAN

 

Dr Pratima Narayan is an Advocate and Founder Partner of Techlawlogi Consulting LLP, a law firm based out of Bengaluru. She is an expert in the areas of information technology law, intellectual property rights, commercial contracts and consumer protection law, and holds a doctorate in law from the National Law School of India University (NLSIU). She is an empaneled Mediator with the Indian Institute of Arbitration and Mediation and Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs. She has been instrumental in designing the technical process for online mediation at the Online Mediation Centre, a state-of-the-art mediation centre under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs at NLSIU, Bengaluru. Dr Pratima has also served the legal academia over the last 18 years as a visiting faculty at various law schools and business schools. Her book on “Electronic Commerce: Legal Compliance Handbook” has recently been published by EBC.

1. Introduction to e-commerce

• • 1.1 Introduction
  • 1.2 E-business and e-commerce
  • 1.3 Nomenclature for e-commerce business
  • 1.4 E-commerce models
  • 1.5 E-commerce channels
  • 1.6 Exercises

2. Prerequisites for setting up e-commerce business

• • 2.1 Choice of business entity
  • 2.2 Preliminary steps
  • 2.3 Domain name registration
  • 2.4 Industry-specific licences
  • 2.5 Payment gateway and legal documentation
  • 2.6 Data security measures
  • 2.7 Exercises

3. E-commerce contracts

• • 3.1 Introduction to e-contracts
  • 3.2 Legal landscape of e-contracts
  • 3.3 Legal recognition of e-contracts
  • 3.4 Authentication and acknowledgment of e-contracts
  • 3.5 Time and place of despatch and receipt of e-records
  • 3.6 Contemporary forms of e-contracts
  • 3.7 Exercises

4. Kinds of e-commerce contracts

• • 4.1 Kinds of e-contracts
  • 4.2 Cloud service agreement
  • 4.3 Application program interface (API)
  • 4.4 Vendor agreement
  • 4.5 Terms and conditions or terms of use
  • 4.6 Privacy policy and cookies
  • 4.7 Exercises

5. Financial transactions in e-commerce

• • 5.1 Establishing online payment in e-commerce
  • 5.2 Laws governing online payments in India
  • 5.3 Prepaid payment instruments (PPI)
  • 5.4 E-payments through intermediaries
  • 5.5 Exercises

6. Intellectual property in e-commerce

• • 6.1 Intellectual property in e-commerce
  • 6.2 Use of third-party intellectual property
  • 6.3 Infringement of intellectual property
  • 6.4 Exercises

7. Taxation and e-commerce

• • 7.1 Taxation and e-commerce
  • 7.2 Overview of direct taxes in India
  • 7.3 Taxation of electronic commerce business
  • 7.4 Goods and Services Tax
  • 7.5 IGST and e-commerce
  • 7.6 Exercises

8. Conclusion

• • 8.1 Conclusion and next steps