Short answer: The title question needs an important correction: at the time of writing (20/10/2026), a standalone E-Commerce Law is no longer a draft. The E-Commerce Law 122/2025/QH15 has been enacted, and Decree 248/2026/ND-CP replaced Decree 52/2013/ND-CP from 01/7/2026. The live question is therefore not whether the law is needed, but what it regulates and how operations must change.
Why elevation from decree to law became unavoidable
Previously, e-commerce was governed mainly by Decree 52/2013/ND-CP and its amendment Decree 85/2021/ND-CP — sub-law instruments while the market had grown into a core retail channel with cross-border platforms, livestreaming and social selling. Three gaps made a statute necessary: authority over foreign platforms and sanctioning needed a law-level basis; new actors such as livestream sellers, intermediaries and digital platforms were not fully identified; and overlaps with tax, advertising and consumer-protection management needed a statute to allocate responsibilities. Law 122/2025 arrived in that context, with Decree 248/2026 as the guiding instrument replacing the old decree frame.
Regulatory areas businesses must grasp
The new law systematises: identification and operating conditions for domestic and cross-border marketplaces; transparency duties for goods, sellers and display algorithms at principle level; management of livestream selling and the responsibilities of streamers, brands and platforms; digital consumer protection connected to the Consumer Rights Protection Law 19/2023/QH15; and tax coordination through platform withholding and information provision. For a business still operating on Decree 52/2013 thinking, the task is no longer to wait for legislation but to re-audit business conditions, seller terms and takedown processes against the new law and Decree 248/2026.
Status and immediate actions
- Replace the compliance reference frame: Law 122/2025 + Decree 248/2026 instead of Decree 52/2013.
- Review platform legal status, branch or presence in Vietnam for foreign marketplaces.
- Update seller terms, counterfeit-handling processes and complaint mechanisms.
- Track further implementing guidance on livestreaming and algorithm management.
Frequently asked questions
What will the standalone E-Commerce Law regulate?
Law 122/2025 is enacted and regulates the system as a whole: conditions and duties of domestic and cross-border marketplaces, information transparency, livestream selling, digital consumer protection and tax coordination. Decree 248/2026 guides implementation and replaced Decree 52/2013 from 01/7/2026.
How do obligations of platforms and sellers change?
Heavier and clearer than before: platforms answer for seller-information control, counterfeit and prohibited-goods handling, complaint mechanisms and related tax duties; sellers answer for truthful goods information and their own tax obligations. Details sit in Law 122/2025 and Decree 248/2026 — audit against the new texts, not Decree 52/2013-era checklists.
How are livestreaming and KOL sellers managed?
Livestream selling is brought into regulation with layered responsibility for the streamer, the brand and the platform: product-information transparency, truthful advertising and tax on selling income. KOLs and management companies (MCNs) need contracts allocating this responsibility clearly instead of the verbal arrangements of the earlier phase.
What is the law-making progress now?
The law has been passed (Law 122/2025/QH15) and the old decree frame replaced by Decree 248/2026 from 01/7/2026. The current phase is detailed implementing guidance and business operational conversion — the right question now is whether the business has re-audited compliance under the new frame, not when the law will come.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council