Turkey has introduced a mandatory central registration system for e-commerce activities. Accordingly, service providers doing e-commerce business through their own e-commerce platforms, intermediary service providers enabling third parties to conduct e-commerce activities through their e-commerce platforms, plus service providers which are resident in Turkey and enter into agreements or accept orders through a foreign service provider (but do not carry out e-commerce activities within the country themselves), must be registered with the electronic commerce information system. 

The Communiqué on Information System for Electronic Commerce and Notification Obligations ("Communiqué") was published in Official Gazette number 30151 on 11 August 2017.

According to the Communiqué, these entities must register with the Electronic Commerce Information System:

  • Service providers operating in their own electronic commerce environment.
  • Intermediary service providers.
  • Service providers that are Turkish residents, which enter into agreements or accept orders in Turkey via a foreign service provider.

The following information must be provided during registration:

  • MERSIS number (for legal persons).
  • Turkish Identification number (for real persons).
  • Tax identification number.
  • Mobile application and domain name used in electronic commerce or intermediary activity.
  • KEP address.
  • Description of the type of electronic commerce.
  • Description of commercial activities besides electronic commerce.
  • Types of goods and services offered in the electronic commerce environment.
  • Payment methods used during electronic commerce.
  • Whether second-hand goods are offered for sale and their type.

Registered parties must provide annual trade volume statistics for cross-border e-commerce must be provided by the end of March each year, including countries involved and payment methods.

Service providers and intermediary service providers will be required to notify any amendments to the information provided during registration, or termination of e-commerce activities, within 30 days of the change.

The following entities will be required to provide monthly anonymized statistical information the Ministry of Customs and Trade about agreements made on the internet:

  • Payment and electronic money organizations.
  • Banks.
  • Bankalararası Kart Merkezi A.Ş. ("Interbank Card Center").
  • Shipping and logistics operators.
  • Infrastructure providers for electronic commerce and intermediary service providers.

The Interbank Card Center is a partnership of 13 public and private Turkish banks for the purpose of providing solutions to the common problems and developing the rules and standards of credit and debit cards in Turkey, within the card payment system. Point of sale information provided by service providers and intermediary service providers will be confirmed by The Interbank Card Center.

Service providers and intermediary service providers which are active as of 1 December 2017 must be registered and fulfil their notification obligations by 31 December 2017. Other actors such as banks, payment and electronic money institutions, which arerequired to provide monthly statistical information must meet their obligations from 1 January 2018 onwards.

Further information can be found on the Ministry's website. Please see this link for full text of the Communiqué (only available in Turkish).

Information first published in the MA | Gazette, a fortnightly legal update newsletter produced by Moroğlu Arseven.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.