What is the offer confirmation procedure under the Electronic Commerce Act?

The Electronic Commerce Act requires that an "offer confirmation procedure" necessarily be gone through so that consumers can transact safely without mistakes.

This is a mechanism that guarantees consumers the opportunity, before payment, to fully check the order details and, if necessary, to correct·cancel them.

Specifically, according to Article 14 of the Electronic Commerce Act, a business must provide a procedure by which the consumer can check the order details both before and after making an offer (order).

In addition, after an offer is received, a receipt confirmation notice (such as an order receipt notification email·screen) must be provided promptly.

In particular, at the stage immediately before payment, the main order details such as the product name, quantity, amount, and delivery address must be displayed once again, and a procedure is needed by which the consumer presses a "final confirmation" button.

Therefore, a structure in which, as at present, payment proceeds immediately as soon as the consumer presses the order button is highly likely to fail to meet the legal requirements.

If payment is made immediately without an offer confirmation procedure, a consumer may enter into a disadvantageous contract without recognizing an order mistake, so in the event of a dispute the business may be placed in an unfavorable position.

For safe operation, it appears desirable to improve the system so that a confirmation page is necessarily gone through before payment.