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Electronic Transactions Act


Published: 2007-04-02

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ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS

THE ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS ACT

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

1. Short title.

PART 1. Prel i~ninary

2. Interpretation.

3. Objects.

4. Exclusions.

5. Agreement required.

PART 11. Application of legal reqz~irernents to
eleclronic transactions

6. Validity of electronic transactions.

7. Requirements to give information in writing.

8. Requirements for signature.

9. Requirements for attestation, etc., of documents.

10. Requirements to produce a document for inspection or in original
form.

I 1 . Requirements for keeping information.

12. Admissibility and evidential weight of information in electronic form.

13. Information required to be served or delivered.

14. Electronic alternative to prescribed forms.

15. Electronic payment.

16. Formation and validity of contracts.

General provisions relating to electronic transactions

17. Attribution of electronic documents.

18. Effect of change or error.

19. Acl correspondence sent by the individual that
is implicitly or explicitly of a private or
confidential nature, or further corres-
pondence that would reveal the contents
of the original correspondence;

(g) the views or opinions of any person about
the individual;

"supplier" means a person who offers by means of
electronic transactions any goods, services or facilities
for sale, hire or exchange.

27.-41) A supplier shall, on the website where goods,
services or facilities are offered for sale, hire or exchange by
the supplier, make available to the consumer the information set
out in the Second Schedule.

(2) The supplier shall provide the consumer with an
opportunity to do the following, in the order of their occurrence
herein-

(a) review the entire electronic transaction;

(b) correct any errors;

(c) withdraw from the transaction before finally :lacing

Obligations
of supplier
in the
conduct
of electronic
transactions.
Second
Schedule.

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an order; and

(4 access electronically and reproduce an accurate sum-
mary of the order and the terms, including the total
cost, relating thereto.

(3) Where a supplier fails to comply with subsection (1)
or (2), the consumer is entitled to cancel the transaction within
fourteen days after receiving the goods, services or facilities to
which the transaction applies.

(4) Where a transaction is cancelled under subsection
(3 1-

(a) the consumer shall return the goods and cease using
the services or facilities supplied pursuant to the trans-
action, as the case may require;

(b) the supplier shall refund all payments made by the
consumer in respect of the transaction.

(5) The supplier shall utilize a payment system that is
sufficiently secure having regard to-

(a) accepted technological standards at the time of the
transaction; and

(b) the type of transaction concerned.

(6) The supplier is liable for any damage suffered by a
consumer due to a failure by the supplier to comply with sub-
section ( 5 ) .

cooling-off 28.--(I) Subject to subsections (2) and (4), a consumer is
period. entitled to cancel, without giving any reason and without

incurring any charge or penalty, any transaction or credit
agreement for the supply of-

(a) goods, within seven days after the receipt of the
goods; or

(b) services or facilities, within seven days after the date
on which the agreement is made.

(2) This section does not apply to any transaction-

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ELECTRONIC TRANSA CTIONS 27

(a ) for financial services, including investment services,
insurance and reinsurance operations, and banking
services;

(b) conducted as an auction;

(c) for services which began, with the consumer's con-
sent, before the applicable cooling-off period
specified in subsection (1);

(6) where the price for the supply of the goods, services or
facilities in question is dependent on fluctuations in
the financial markets and cannot be controlled by the
supplier;

( e ) where the goods in question-

(i) are made to the consumer's specifications;

(ii) are clearly personalized;

(iii) by reason of their nature cannot be returned;
or

(iv) are likely to deteriorate or expire rapidly;

V) where audio or video recordings or consumer software
are unsealed by the consumer;

(g) for the sale of newspapers, periodicals, magazines or
books;

(h) for the provision of gaming or lottery services; or

(i) for the provision of accommodation, transport, catering
or leisure services or facilities, which the supplier
undertakes to provide (when the transaction is
concluded) on a specific date or within a specific
period.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), if payment for the goods,
services or facilities, as the case may be, has been made prior to
a cancellation under subsection (I), the consumer is entitled to a
full refund of the payment, and the supplier shall make the
refund within thirty days after the date of the cancellation.

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Unsolicited
commercial
communi-
cations.

Supply of
goods,
services or
facilities
pursuant to
transactions
conducted
electronically.

(4) The only charge that may be levied on a consumer
who acts under subsection (1) is the direct cost to the supplier of
returning the goods.

( 5 ) Nothing in this section shall be construed to pre-
judice any other rights that the consumer may have under any
other law.

29.-(1) A person who sends unsolicited commercial com-
munications to consumers shall give to a consumer to whom any
such communication is sent-

(a) the opportunity to decline to receive any further such
communications from that person; and

(b) upon request by the consumer, the identifying
particulars of the source from which that person
obtained the consumer's contact information or other
personal information.

(2) A person who fails to comply with subsection (1)
commits an offence.

(3) No agreement is concluded where a consumer fails
to respond to an unsolicited commercial communication.

(4) A person who sends an unsolicited commercial com-
munication to a consumer who has communicated to that
person that the consumer does not wish to receive any such
communication, commits an offence.

30.-(1) Where an agreement is made for the supply of
goods, services or facilities, the supplier shall supply the goods,
services or facilities (as the case may require) within the time
specified in the agreement or, if no time is so specified, within
thirty days after the date on which the agreement is made.

(2) Where the supplier fails to supply the goods, services
or facilities (as the case may require) within the time required
under subsection (I), the consumer may cancel the agreement
seven days after giving the supplier notice of that intention.

(3) Where the supplier is unable to c a w out the agree-

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ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS 29

ment because the goods, services or facilities in question are
unavailable, the supplier shall-

(a) forthwith notify the consumer of the inability; and

(b) within thirty days after becoming aware of the
inability, refund any payment made by, or on behalf
of, the consumer in respect of the goods, services or
facilities.

31. No provision in any agreement shall be construed as ~ ; . ~ ~ ~ ~ n s
excluding any rights or obligations provided for in this Part. not excluded

by agree-
ment.

32. A consumer who alleges that a supplier has failed to Comp'aints
to Consumer

comply with any of the provisions of this Part, may make a Affai,
complaint to the Consumer Affairs Commission in accordance COmmi"iOn.
with section 7 of the Consumer Protection Act.

PART V . The Certlfiing Authority
33.---(I) For the purposes of this Act there shall be a CertiFying

Certifying Authority, which shall have the functions set out in Authority.

subsection (3).

(2) The Certifying Authority shall be-

(a) the Trade Board; or

(b) such other person as the Minister may designate by
notice published in the Gazette.

(3) The functions of the Certifying Authority shall be
t o -

(a) issue certificates;

(b) issue and regulate the use of private and public key
pairs;

(c) authorize and regulate the issue of certificates by
certification service providers;

(d) authenticate certificates issued by any local or over-
seas certification service provider;

(e) provide time stamping services in relation to eIectronic

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Penalties.

documents;
V) provide application programming interface, including

data encryption, encrypted signatures and digital
envelopes;

(g) carry out any other duties assigned to it under this or
any other enactment.

(4) For the purpose of exercising its functions under this
section, the Certifying Authority may-

(a) carry out such investigations as may be necessary;

(b) co-operate with any overseas certifying authority in
establishing a system of mutual certification.

(c) issue, from time to time, certification practice state-
ments;

(4 with the approval of the Minister, make regulations
prescribing-

(i) the fees to be imposed for the issue of
certificates, authorizations to certification
service providers and private and public key
pairs;

(ii) the manner of application, and the require-
ments, for authorization of certification
service providers;

(iii) standards and codes of conduct for inter-
mediaries and certification service providers.

PART VI. General
34.-(1) A person who contravenes any provision of this Act

or any regulations made hereunder commits an offence.

(2) A person who commits an offence under this Act or
any regulations .made hereunder, shall be liable upon-

(a) conviction before a Resident Magistrate to a fine not
exceeding one million dollars or to imprisonment for
a term not exceeding one year, or to both such fine
and imprisonment; or

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(b) conviction before a Circuit Court to a fine or to
imprisonment for a term of not exceeding five years,
or to both such fine and imprisonment.

35. Where a body corporate commits an offence under this offences
by bodies Act and the offence is proved to have been committed with the

consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on
the part of, any director, manager, company secretary or other
similar officer of the body corporate, or any person purporting
to act in any such capacity, that officer or person (as the case
may be) as well as the body corporate shall be liable for the
offence.

36. This Act binds the Crown. A C ~ b ~ n d s
Crown

37. The Minister may make regulations generally for giving Regulations
effect to the provisions of this Act and, without prejudice to the
generality of the foregoing, may make regulations prescribing-

(a) methods which satisfy the requirements for an
encrypted signature under this Act;

(b) requirements for certification;

(c) the matters to be specified in a certificate;

(d) procedures for the use, importation or exportation of
encryption programmes or other encryption devices.

38. The Minister may by order, subject to affirmative Minstermay
by order

resolution of the House of Representatives- amend
penalty or

(a) increase any monetary penalty of this Act; or Schedules.

(b) amend any of the Schedules.

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FIRST SCHEDULE (Section 4)

Transaction

1. The making, execution,
alteration or revocation of
a Will or other testamentary
instrument.

2. The conveyance or transfer
of real property or any interest
in real property.

3. The creation, variation, performance
or enforcement of any-

(a) trust; or

(b) power of attorney.

4. Any procedure governed by
the Civil Procedures Rules, 2002,
or by rules of court made pursuant
to any law.

Extent of exclusion from
the provisions ofthis Act

Whole Act.

Whole Act.

Whole Act.

Whole Act.

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ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS 3;

SECOND SCHEDULE (Section 27)

Information to be made available by supplier to conszirners

1. The full name of the supplier.

2. The supplier's geographical address, website address, e-mail address
and telephone number.

3. The geographical address where the supplier will receive service of
legal documents.

A disclosure as to whether the entity is incorporated or registered under
any law and, where applicable, the supplier's registration number and
place of registration.

Details as to membership in any self-regulatory or accreditation bodies
to which the supplier belongs or subscribes, and the contact
information of such bodies.

A description of any code of conduct to which the supplier subscribes
and how that code may be accessed electronically by the consumer.

A description of the main characteristics of each type of goods, service
or facility (as the case may be) offered on the website by the supplier,
which is reasonably sufficient to enable the consumer to make an
informed decision as to the proposed electronic transaction.

The full price of the goods, services or facilities, as the case may be,
including transportation costs, taxes and any other fees or costs.

The method of payment required by the supplier.

The terms of agreement, including any guarantees, that will apply to
the transaction, and how those terms may be accessed, stored and
reproduced by the consumer electronically.

The time within which the goods will be dispatched or delivered, the
services rendered or the facilities made available, as the case may be.

12. The manner and period within which consumers can access and main-
tain a full record of the transaction.

13. The return, exchange and refund policy of the supplier.

14. Any dispute resolution code to which the supplier subscribes, and how
the text of that code may be accessed electronically by the consumer.

15. The security procedures and privacy policy of the supplier in respect of
payment, payment information and personal information.

16. Where appropriate, the minimum duration of the agreement in the case
of agreements for goods, services or facilities to be supplied on an

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SECOND SCHEDULE, contd.

ongoing basis or recurrently.

17. Where applicable, the consumer's rights under section 28.

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