The Regulation Amending (“Amending Regulation”) the Regulation on Electronic Commerce Intermediary Service Providers (“ECISP”) and Electronic Commerce Service Providers (“ECSP”) was published in the Official Journal dated 08.03.2025 and numbered 32835. The important changes introduced by the Amending Regulation are presented below.
With the Amending Regulation, the second, third and fourth paragraphs of Article 5 of the Regulation on Electronic Commerce Intermediary Service Providers and Electronic Commerce Service Providers (“Regulation”) have been amended as follows:
By making the amendment as follows, the obligation of ECSP, who sells in the electronic commerce marketplace and is a merchant or tradesman and craftsman, to have a Registered Electronic Mail (“REM”) address in the area allocated to its by ECISP has been removed.
(2) ECSP, which is a merchant and craftsman or tradesman and craftsman who sells in the electronic commerce marketplace, keeps the following information in the area allocated to it by ECISP:
a) At least one of the trade name, business name or registered trademark information.
b) REM address
c) Tax identification number for tradesmen and craftsmen, MERSIS number for merchants.
(2) The ECSP, which sells in the electronic commerce marketplace and is a merchant or tradesman and craftsman, keeps the following information in the area allocated to it by ECISP:
a) At least one of the trade name, business name or registered trademark information.
b) Tax identification number for tradesmen and craftsmen, MERSIS number for merchants
With the amendment in the third paragraph of the same article, it has been deemed sufficient for ECSP, who sells in the electronic commerce marketplace and is a merchant or tradesman and craftsman, to include only the province where the headquarters address is located in the area allocated by ECISP.
ECSP, who sells in the electronic commerce marketplace and who is not a merchant or tradesman and craftsman, is obliged to notify ECISP of it’s name, surname, Turkish ID Number, e-mail address and telephone number.
(4) ECSP, which sells in an electronic commerce marketplace, is obliged to notify ECISP of its headquarters address, e-mail address and telephone number.
(4) Selling in electronic commerce marketplaces;
a) ECSP, who is a merchant or tradesman and craftsman, is obliged to notify ECISP of its headquarters address, e-mail address and telephone number.
b) ECSP, who is not a merchant or a tradesman and craftsman, is obliged to notify ECISP of his name, surname, Turkish ID Number, e-mail address and telephone number.
The Amending Regulation amends the third and fourth paragraphs of Article 6 of the Regulation and ECISP is deemed to be sufficient to check the identifying information of ECSP specified in the second, third and fourth paragraphs of Article 5 at least once in each calendar year and the obligation to verify such information in calendar years in which ECSP does not list products is removed.
With the Amending Regulation, subparagraph (f) of the second paragraph of Article 11 of the Regulation has been amended as follows and subparagraph (ğ) has been added to the same paragraph:
(f) Determination by ECISP, without the prior approval of ECSP, of right of withdrawal periods exceeding the periods specified in the Law on the Protection of Consumers dated 7/11/2013 and numbered 6502.
(f) Setting right of withdrawal periods beyond the periods specified in the Law on the Protection of Consumers dated 7/11/2013 and numbered 6502, without being specified in the intermediary agreement or without obtaining the prior approval of the ECSP by ECISP.
ğ) Except for the cases where the situation requiring the penal clause specified in the intermediation agreement can be determined by documents and records, imposing a penal clause without requesting an explanation from the ECSP through the internal communication system of ECISP.
With the Amending Regulation, the second paragraph of Article 16 of the Regulation has been amended as follows and the third paragraph has been added to the same article:
(2) Unless a longer period is set by ECISP, contract amendments shall be put into effect at the end of fifteen days from the date of notification. This period is thirty days in cases requiring technical development by ECISP and in cases that have consequences such as increasing commission rates and other service fees, restricting, suspending or terminating the intermediary service, imposing new penal clauses on ECSP, deteriorating the balance of rights and interests against ECSP.
(2) Unless a longer period is set by ECISP, contract amendments shall be put into effect at the end of fifteen days from the date of notification. This period is thirty days in cases that require technical development by ECSP and in cases that have consequences such as increasing commission rates and other service fees, restricting, suspending or terminating the brokerage service, imposing new penal conditions on ECSP, disrupting the balance of rights and interests. In the contract amendments to be made in favor of ECSP, provided that this situation is notified to ECSP, the fifteen-day period specified in this paragraph shall not be applied.
(4) The periods specified in this article shall not apply for the mandatory amendments to the intermediation agreement due to the decisions taken and regulations made by the regulatory and supervisory authorities.
With the Amending Regulation, the fourth and fifth paragraphs of Article 20 of the Regulation have been amended as follows:
(4) If a breach is detected, the Ministry notifies the relevant ECISP or ECSP to cease the breach.
(5) Within twenty-four hours following the receipt of the notification by the Ministry, ECISP and ECSP are obliged to eliminate the breach and inform the Ministry about it.
(4) If the Ministry detects a breach, an administrative sanction is imposed and the relevant ETAHS or ECSP is notified to end the breach.
(5) Within twenty-four hours following the notification made by the Ministry, ECISP and ECSP shall eliminate the breach and add the keyword subject to the complaint to the negative keywords with exact matching in all advertising models and campaign types that provide text advertising in online search engines. Provide the Ministry with information and documents proving this situation without delay.
The Amending Regulation amends Article 23 of the Regulation so that audit reports will now be sent to the Ministry in August, not April.
With the Amending Regulation, paragraph nine of Article 28 of the Regulation has been amended as follows and paragraph 12 has been added:
(9) In the event that ECISP exceeds its advertising budget by having the ECSP ‘s or third parties to whom it provides intermediary services to make advertisements in a way to create results in its favor, it shall be deemed that ECISP has made advertising expenditures through works and transactions aimed at misleading the Ministry.
(9) In the event that ECISP exceeds its advertising budget by having the ECSP ‘s or third parties, to whom it provides intermediary services, make advertisements in a way to create results in its favor and does not include the amount of the cost incurred in these advertising expenditures in its notification to the Ministry, it shall be deemed that ECISP has made advertising expenditures through works and transactions intended to mislead the Ministry.
(12) Within the scope of the Regulation on the Sale of Renewed Products, provided that it pertains to the purchase of used goods and the sale of renewed products, advertising expenses up to five percent of the budget calculated in accordance with the third paragraph shall not be included in this budget.
With the Amending Regulation, new paragraphs have been added to Article 31 of the Regulation. With the added paragraphs, the procedures and principles regarding the calculation of the license fee have been determined and the sales to be accepted as overseas sales in the application of this paragraph have been regulated with the eighth paragraph.
With the Amending Regulation, the eighth paragraph of Article 33 of the Regulation has been amended as follows and the eleventh paragraph has been added:
(8) ECISP is obliged to provide the necessary integration with ECSP for the simultaneous transmission of the order information of the goods it mediates the sale of in electronic commerce marketplaces to ECSP and updating the stock information.
(8) ECISP is obliged to provide the technical infrastructure for the simultaneous transmission of the order information of the goods it mediates the sale of in electronic commerce marketplaces to ECSP and the updating of stock information by ECSP. This provision does not apply to ECISP’s acting as an intermediary for ECSP’s providing food and beverage services such as restaurants, restaurants, cafes, patisseries and similar food and beverage services.
(11) The burden of proof regarding the transactions declared to be foreign sales under this Regulation belongs to the declarant ECISP. ECISP is obliged to obtain all kinds of information and documents for the proof of the said declaration from the relevant person, to take the necessary measures and to establish the technical infrastructure for the effective and efficient realization of the audits.
The full Amending Regulation is available at https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2025/03/20250308-1.htm.
Best Regards,
Balay, Eryiğit & Erten
