Law, Policy, and Practices of e-Business in Nepal
Introduction
E-commerce, generally knows as electronic commerce also Internet Commerce or Digital Commerce refers to the day to day business operations carried out using the Internet or digital technology. Most specifically buying and selling different goods and services using ICT resources some of the great examples of those are Amazon or Daraz in the case of Nepal. Though it’s mostly focused on selling products from an online store but not limited to products by using different platforms it is enabled to even sell the services one of a good example is Tootle and Pathao (ride-sharing platforms). Post COVID-19, there is a boom of eCommerce companies.. Recently, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce & Supply has prepared draft legislation on E-Business which is still at a preliminary stage. . Considering the need for wider knowledge, consultation, and discourse on the various legal and policy issues of the e-commerce Delta Law Firm, Internet Governance Institute, and Innovative Legal Services has planned a wide discussion with the stakeholders on the laws, policies, and practices of e-commerce industries in Nepal.
Objective
The objective of the forum is to discuss various dimensions of law, policy, and practices of e-commerce in Nepal. The Discussion on e-business will focus on the following issues:
- Discuss major technological trends and their legal impact in the e-commerce industry.
- Discuss major regulatory frameworks and their practices in Nepal,
- Discuss the major issues of e-commerce like security, consumer protection, intermediary liability, and payment gateway.
- Discuss the role of social media platforms and mobile phone in e-commerce and their legal implications,
- Discuss the future of e-commerce, e.g. AI, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, etc. and their legal implications.
Agenda
Date: 4 December Platform: Zoom
Welcome Note and Highlight of the Forum: Advocate Sunil Kumar Pokharel, Founder, Innovative Legal Service
Chief Guest:
Last decade social media became part and parcel of Netizens. Specially, after the rise of Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, people are connecting their online behavior with their social media accounts.
This leads to social commerce, selling products directly within social media platforms. In this session, we will be discussing the opportunity provided by new media platforms for eCommerce and its prospects in economies like Nepal.
As the use of ICT is growing rapidly, technology is also changing dynamically. The development of Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Big data are changing the face of e-commerce.
This session will discuss how we can shape the law and policy framework for sustainable e-Business in Nepal.
Moderator
Saroj Krishna Ghimire, Treasurer, Supreme Court Bar Association
Saroj K Ghimire is an Advocate of Supreme Court of Nepal and Treasurer of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and Asst. Prof. of Law at tribhuvan University He has been the International Speaker for International Bar Association’s Annual Conference at Sydney and Seoul and Member Secretary for International Bar Relation & Professional development Committee of Nepal Bar Associaiton and SCBA. Read More
Panelists
Mr. Manohar Kumar Bhattarai,
Former Vice-Chairman, High-Level Commission for Information Technology/President of Internet Governance Institute
Mr. Bhattarai is one of the most trusted and respected ICT4D professionals in Nepal. Mr. Bhattarai’s involvement in the Information and Communication Technology sector spans nearly three decades encompassing varying responsibilities in various functional and leadership roles. Read More
Prof. Dr. P. Vigneswara Ilavarasan,
Professor, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi
P. Vigneswara Ilavarasan (PhD – IIT Kanpur) is a Professor of information systems at the Dept. of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. He researches and teaches about interaction of information and communication technologies (ICTs), society & business. Read More
Dr. Ganesh Prasad Pandeya,
Joint Secretary, Ministry of Industries, Commerce and Supply
Ms. Missi Choudhary,
Founder, Missi Choudhary, and Associates, NewYork/New Delhi
Mishi Choudhary is a technology lawyer and online civil liberties activist working in the United States and India. She is the Legal Director at the Software Freedom Law Center and the Founder of SFLC.in. SFLC.in brings together lawyers, policy analysts, and technologists. Read More
Session Brief
History of e-Commerce goes to late 90’s and early 2000 when thamel.com started their service in 1998 as a business listing website and munchahouse.com (now muncha.com). It took time to grow in the market due to various reasons. In the early decade of 2010 some other operators came in the market and some of them (e.g. Kaymu (Now Daraz), Sastodeal, Urban Girl (Now UG Bazar) are successful. The rise of e-comemrce platforms went on boom after the COVID-19, the global pandemic in the early 2020. Some of very new operators (e.g. Gyapu) also marked their presence significantly. In this session, we will explore the past, present and future of e-commerce in Nepal.
Speaker
Bal Krishna Joshi, Co-founder, thamel.com
Bal is a passionate Tech entrepreneur with over 20 years of FinTech experience . He has played an important role in the building a democratic digital ecosystem to provide cross-border digital banking access to those in the base of the pyramid.
His biggest achievement till date has been developing a solution that removes barrier to entry for non-licensed entities to offer hyper-local digital remittance services . Read More
Session Brief
As the technology expanded, the dynamics of legal aspects also expanded. We will be discussing the legal and regulatory aspects of the e-business, special focusing the proposed e-Business Bill, prepared by the Government of Nepal.
Speaker
Babu Ram Aryal, Managing Partner, Delta Law Firm
Mr. Aryal has extensive experience and knowledge on International Business Law, Cyber law, Intellectual Property Law, Media Law and Telecommunication Law. Mr. Aryal has significant intervention at national and international level research on cyber law and policy. Read More
Data-driven innovation is a key enabler of the growth of the economy and jobs. The importance of data collected online and generated by the various tools e.g. Internet of Things (IoT) objects and the availability of big data analytics tools and artificial intelligence applications are key technical drivers in contemporary society.
Data held by companies can be very relevant to guide policy decisions or improve public services. Its use can lead to a more targeted response to epidemics, better urban planning, like improved road safety and traffic management, as well as better environmental protection, market monitoring, and consumer protection. Who is the owner of the Data? Which jurisdiction should be applied? What about the concept of data sovereignty and data localization? These issues will be discussed in this session.
Speaker
Nikhil Pahwa, Founder/Editor, Medianama
Nikhil Pahwa is an Indian journalist, digital rights activist, and founder of MediaNama, a mobile and digital news portal. He has been a key commentator on stories and debates around Indian digital media companies, censorship, and Internet and mobile regulation in India. Read More
Session Brief
Intellectual Property is a very important aspect of e-Commerce. Each of the databases developed by a trader is now an asset for them. Protection of design of a platform, domain name, and sale of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protected goods, database, metadata etc. are major issues of IPR in E-Commerce. This session will discuss various aspects of e-commerce and compliances on IPR in E-Commerce.
Speaker
Advocate Raka Roy, Head of IP & Data Protection at Galadari Advocates & Legal Consultants, Dubai, UAE
Raka Roy is a Head of IP & Data Protection at Galadari Advocates & Legal Consultants. Prior to joining the firm, Raka was the Head of Commercial and IP at United Trade Mark and Patent Services (UTMPS), Dubai, holding more than 16 years of experience. Read More
The COVID-19 Pandemic played a catalyst for the ecommerce around the world. This provided people with access to a significant variety of products from the convenience and safety of their homes, and enabled business to continue operation in such odd situations. This crisis enhanced dynamism in the e-commerce landscape across the jurisdictions.
Nepal was not an exception. The crisis played a significant contribution on bringing businesses in new normal. There was boom of digital banking, online delivery of not only consumable goods, also other businesses until now not considered possible through digital platform also came into the platform and succeed. In this session we will be discussing on the rise of e-commerce domain in Nepal and the challenges faced by the industries.
Speaker
Sagar Dev Bhatta
Founder, Kirana,
Coordinator, E-Business Operators Association Nepal
Sagar is the Co-Founder at Nepal’s first online grocery business merokirana.com (KIRANA), a company that has pioneered in shifting consumer behavior and trust towards buying groceries online. Sagar inherently understands that the customer is the single most valuable asset a company can have, and is driven by the unrelenting pursuit of customer-driven focus, ideals, and user experience. He believes that this very understanding has led to the success of KIRANA. He is also a Business Leader at a San Francisco based tech company. Read More
E-Commerce service providers are intermediaries and their liabilities are limited up to their role. However, states are developing strict measures for the intermediary liabilities in the name of consumer protections. In this panel discussion we will be discussing the principle of intermediary liability, consumer protection and regulatory approaches.
Moderator
Advocate Prabin Subedi
Managing Associate and Partner at Paramount Legal Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd.
Prabin Subedi, Managing Associate and Partner at Paramount Legal Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd. is a practicing lawyer at Supreme Court of Nepal has completed his LL.M studies in Information Communication Technology Law from the University of Oslo, Norway LL.B degree from Kathmandu School of Law. Mr. Subedi has represented many victims of online sexual violence at various courts of Nepal. Read More
Panelists
Bikram Shrestha
President, Nepal Internet Foundation
He is the head of banking sector in the Sanima Bank. He is responsible for overall administrative, operational, ICT of the Bank’s payment system like, Card Products (Debit/Credit), Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, Branchless Banking, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) products & services and other related systems. Read More
Rohit Tiwari
CEO, FoodMario
Mr. Tiwari Started his first company In 2012 he was studying engineering, by selling solar panel and lead-acid batteries for urban solar installations, continuing to work on solar energy, He then in 2014 decided, He could start a ‘Goat Farm ‘ and started farming in early 2014 Read More
Jashisha Kumar Gupta
CFO, Daraz Nepal
Mr. Gupta has expertise and experience in various facets of finance, accounting, and auditing in the industry verticals of FMCG, Automobile, Construction, Sugar, Cement, and Power. Read more
Co-Founder, Green Growth
Ms. Samita Kapali is a student of environment management and an entrepreneur from Kathmandu, Nepal who is focused on her work and her passion for environmental activism. Read More
Senior Advocate Upendra Keshari Neupane
Founder Delta Law Firm
Mr. Upendra Keshari Neupane, a former member of the Judicial Council, is one of a visionary lawyer having wide experience in litigation, policy advisory as well as consulting service. He brings more than 35 years of experience of practice in constitutional, corporate, banking and insurance, securities markets, infrastructure, media and development issues in the Delta Law. He has advised a range of government agencies, public sector enterprises, international development institutions, and private sectors. Read More
Media Partner
Radio Partner
Organizers
Delta Law Firm is a Kathmandu-based Full-Service quality law firm having a wide range of expertise and experience with global reach and standards. With the motto of “serving clients interest first”, Delta Law is one of the most trusted law firms in Nepal that provides quality service to client’s needs through innovation, excellence, practical, and accurate legal solutions [www.deltalawfirm.com].
Internet Governance Institute (IGI) is an initiative established for strengthening Internet Governance at the grass-root level through research, capacity building, awareness, debates, and policy intervention across the Asia Pacific. IGI believes in collaboration and operates through the participation of IG related institutions. [www.igovinstitute.org].
Co-Organizers
Innovative Legal Service is a Kathmandu based law firm providing legal service on Constitutional, criminal, and FDI related issues. It is run by a team of legal experts with the optimum satisfaction of its clients. Thirty percent of its yearly work is pro-bono as it cares about its corporate social responsibility.
NIF (Nepal Internet Foundation) is a research and development forum that supports and perform technical and geographical researches in context of Nepal to build up the reach of internet and its objectives with in the country. NIF sets an objective contributing towards the transformation of the society to overcome the challenges of digitalization in Nepal.