LEGAL PROBLEMS OF CONSUMER RIGHTS PROTECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE (ONLINE SHOPPING)
##doi.readerDisplayName##:
https://doi.org/10.68023/j98gc030Kalit so‘zlar:
electronic commerce, online shopping, consumer rights, digital platform, online marketplace, distance contract, dark patterns, personal data, online dispute resolution, Uzbekistan.Abstrak
This article examines the legal problems of consumer rights protection in electronic commerce, with particular emphasis on the legislation and enforcement practice of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Using normative, comparative-legal, systemic-functional, and statistical methods, the study analyzes national legislation governing consumer protection, electronic commerce, advertising, personal data, and payment systems in conjunction with relevant international standards
and foreign regulatory experience. The findings identify several interconnected problems, including deficiencies in trader identification, uncertainty regarding marketplace liability, the absence of a comprehensive mechanism regulating the consumer’s right to withdraw from distance contracts, evidentiary inequality between the parties, delayed refunds, inadequate protection of personal data, and limited access to effective legal remedies in cross-border transactions.
The article also proposes a five-stage model of digital consumer protection encompassing transaction transparency, platform accountability, substantive consumer remedies, procedural and evidentiary safeguards, and coordinated public digital enforcement.
References
1. National Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan. (2025, September 29). 94.2% of Uzbekistan’s population uses the Internet. https://stat.uz/en/press-center/news-of-committee/64213-uzbekiston-a-olisining-94-2-foizi-internetdan-fojdalanadi-4
2. National Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan. (2026, January 22). The volume of wholesale trade reached 543.3 trillion soums. https://stat.uz/en/press-center/news-of-committee/66440-ulgurzhi-savdo-tovar-ajlanmasi-azhmi-543-3-trln-s-mga-etdi-4
3. Competition Promotion and Consumer Protection Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan. (2026, February 11). UZS 7.3 billion was recalculated in favour of citizens following e-commerce complaints in 2025. https://raqobat.gov.uz/uz/raqobat-qomitasi-tomonidan-elektron-tijorat-sohasidagi-murojatlarasosida-7-3-mlrd-som-mablag-fuqarolar-foydasiga-qayta-hisob-kitob-qilinishi-taminlandi/
4. Competition Promotion and Consumer Protection Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan. (2026, April 27). Consumer protection in the e-commerce market: Existing problems and proposed solutions. https://raqobat.gov.uz/uz/raqobat-qomitasining-elektron-tijorat-bozorida-istemolchilar-huquqlarini-himoyaqilish-mavjud-muammolar-va-ularning-yechimlari-yuzasidan-takliflari/
5. Competition Promotion and Consumer Protection Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan. (2026, April 29). Consumer applications concerning online commerce are being systematically reviewed and promptly addressed. https://raqobat.gov.uz/uz/raqobat-qomitasiga-istemolchilardan-onlayn-savdo-sohasidakelib-tushayotgan-murojaatlar-tizimli-organilib-tezkor-va-samarali-choralar-korilmoqda/
6. Republic of Uzbekistan. (1996, April 26). Law No. 221-I “On Protection of Consumer Rights” (current consolidated text). LexUZ. https://lex.uz/docs/-4704
7. Republic of Uzbekistan. (2022, September 29). Law No. ZRU-792 “On Electronic Commerce” (current consolidated text). LexUZ. https://lex.uz/docs/-6213382
8. Republic of Uzbekistan. (1995–1996). Civil Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Parts One and Two; current consolidated texts). LexUZ. https://lex.uz/docs/-111189; https://lex.uz/docs/-180552
9. Republic of Uzbekistan. (2022, June 7). Law No. ZRU-776 “On Advertising” (current consolidated text). LexUZ. https://lex.uz/docs/-6052631
10. Republic of Uzbekistan. (2019, July 2). Law No. ZRU-547 “On Personal Data” (current consolidated text). LexUZ. https://lex.uz/docs/-4396419
11. Republic of Uzbekistan. (2019, November 1). Law No. ZRU-578 “On Payments and Payment Systems” (current consolidated text). LexUZ. https://lex.uz/docs/-4575786
12. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2016). OECD recommendation of the Council on consumer protection in e-commerce. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264255258-en
13. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2022). Measuring financial consumer detriment in e-commerce (OECD Digital Economy Papers No. 326). OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/4055c40e-en
14. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2024, October 9). Stronger consumer protections needed to address current and emerging harms consumers face online. https://www.oecd.org/en/about/news/press-releases/2024/10/stronger-consumer-protections-needed-toaddress-current-and-emerging-harms-consumers-face-online.html
15. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2019). Good practice guide on online consumer ratings and reviews (OECD Digital Economy Papers No. 288). OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/0f9362cf-en
16. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2019). Good practice guide on consumer data (OECD Digital Economy Papers No. 290). OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/e0040128-en
17. European Parliament & Council of the European Union. (2011). Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights. Official Journal of the European Union, L 304, 64–88. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2011/83/oj
18. European Parliament & Council of the European Union. (2005). Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices. Official Journal of the European Union, L 149, 22–39. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2005/29/oj
19. European Parliament & Council of the European Union. (2022). Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a single market for digital services (Digital Services Act). Official Journal of the European Union, L 277, 1–102. https://eurlex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/2065/oj
20. European Parliament & Council of the European Union. (2016). Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (General Data Protection
Regulation). Official Journal of the European Union, L 119, 1–88. https://eurlex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj
21. Mathur, A., Acar, G., Friedman, M. J., Lucherini, E., Mayer, J., Chetty, M., & Narayanan, A. (2019). Dark patterns at scale: Findings from a crawl of 11K shopping websites. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 3(CSCW), Article 81. https://doi.org/10.1145/3359183
22. Luguri, J., & Strahilevitz, L. J. (2021). Shining a light on dark patterns. Journal of Legal Analysis, 13(1), 43–109. https://doi.org/10.1093/jla/laaa006
23. Riefa, C. (2016). Consumer protection and online auction platforms: Towards a safer legal framework. Routledge.
