New trade licences to regulate e-commerce in Abu Dhabi

Issuing electronic trade licences will help regulate the e-commerce industry in the UAE capital city.

The Abu Dhabi Business Centre of the Department of Economic Development (DED) on Tuesday said it would regulate the e-commerce industry in the UAE capital by issuing electronic trade licences in cooperation with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).

Khalifa bin Salem Al Mansouri, the DED's Undersecretary, said e-commerce has gained popularity and regulating it by issuing a legal trade licence to practise the activity would create trust between the seller and the consumer.

Mohammed Munif Al Mansouri, CEO of the Abu Dhabi Business Centre, said entrepreneurs are allowed to add electronic trade activities to their existing licences and conduct business through websites and social media.

He said the e-commerce initiative aimed to encourage entrepreneurs to reinforce their activity through electronic trade and open marketing and commercial channels for existing projects and businesses. This helps create solutions to some of the violations committed in unlicensed electronic trade and provides an approved legal framework for electronic business practice.

Moreover, it allows small investors and the owners of small, medium and micro enterprises to conduct electronic trade innovatively. Ahmed Tarish Al Qubaisi, acting director of the Commercial Protection Directorate, said there are two main activities allocated to electronic trade licensing - electronic trade through websites and electronic trade through social media.

An electronic trade licence can be requested by applying via the DED's website (www.ded.abudhabi.ae) or through the Abu Dhabi Business Centre's app ADBC which requires the approval of the TRA.

In case an application is submitted to request the addition of electronic trade activity via websites or social media for existing licences, an activity addition application is submitted, after which the TRA's approval is obtained in order to pay the fees and issue the licence.

Al Qubaisi said the DED provides owners of electronic trade licences the 'Electronic Tajer' mark along with a serial number for the licence in order to use it during the promotion of products.

He said the electronic trade licence is based on three main standards - the availability of an existing license (Tajer Abu Dhabi or an economic licence), availability of at least one main activity and the identification of the websites used to conduct the activity through the domain name (ae).

- waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com