Since 1 July 2026, the question of which decree governs e-commerce website registration with the Ministry of Industry and Trade has a new answer. Decree 248/2026/ND-CP replaced Decree 52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce, on the foundation of E-commerce Law No. 122/2025/QH15 — any company still following process guides written before 2026 is citing an expired instrument.
The new frame: Law 122/2025 and Decree 248/2026
E-commerce Law No. 122/2025/QH15 created a dedicated statutory frame for e-commerce in Vietnam, and Decree 248/2026/ND-CP guides its implementation, replacing Decree 52/2013/ND-CP from 1 July 2026. The filing channel remains the national e-commerce activity management system at online.gov.vn run by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, but the legal bases, forms and duties of each actor group have been rewritten. For an FDI company selling online, the first update to every internal procedure is the citation itself: replace every 52/2013 reference with 248/2026 and mark it as the framework in force at the time of performance.
Your own sales website: the notification regime
A company selling its own goods and services through a website it sets up falls in the notification group: it notifies its e-commerce sales website to the Ministry of Industry and Trade before the site starts trading. The notification is filed online and ties to company information, the domain, product categories and contact details. The site counts as properly processed only once the system confirms and the company displays the notified emblem linked to the verification page on the portal. The easily forgotten point: changing the domain, changing the website owner or shutting the site down are also events requiring an update or a fresh notification — this is not a file-once-and-forget duty.
When the model outgrows notification: marketplaces and third-party platforms
If the model is no longer the sale of one’s own goods — the website lets other merchants open storefronts, charges service fees, or offers online ordering for many sellers — the operator falls into the registration and licensing group for e-commerce service websites, with materially heavier conditions and dossiers including an operating plan, management rules and a dispute-resolution mechanism. For a foreign-invested company there is an added screening layer in investment conditions: third-party e-commerce services can sit in business lines conditioned on ownership ratios and scope, so confirming the business line on the IRC must precede building the platform, rather than discovering after launch that the model may not be operated.
After go-live: three operating duties
First, information transparency on the website: details of the owner, goods and services, prices, transaction terms, return policies and personal data protection must be complete under e-commerce rules and current personal data protection law. Second, tax and invoice duties of online sales under Tax Administration Law No. 108/2025/QH15 — which replaced Law No. 38/2019/QH14 from 1 July 2026 — especially where revenue flows through several channels and intermediary platforms. Third, reporting and complaint duties: online sellers must retain transaction information and cooperate with market management authorities on request, and failing to complete the notification can draw penalties together with an order to suspend the website until it is completed.
Frequently asked questions
Must an online seller register its website with the Ministry of Industry and Trade?
A website selling the company’s own goods falls under notification of an e-commerce sales website before trading, currently under Decree 248/2026/ND-CP, which replaced Decree 52/2013/ND-CP from 1 July 2026, filed online on the online.gov.vn system.
Where is e-commerce website registration filed and how long does it take?
Online, on the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s e-commerce activity management portal at online.gov.vn. Once the notification dossier is valid, the system confirms and the company displays the notified emblem on its website.
What is the fine for selling through an unnotified website?
Trading through a website whose notification is incomplete can draw administrative penalties in the e-commerce field and an order to suspend the website until completion. The exact fine follows the sanctioning decree in force and the circumstances, so it must be checked at the time of inspection.
Must a marketplace website for third-party sellers be notified?
Notification is not enough. Operating an e-commerce service website for third parties sits in the registration and licensing group with its own conditions under E-commerce Law No. 122/2025/QH15 and Decree 248/2026/ND-CP, and an FDI operator must also check the investment conditions of that service line.
If an FDI company only sells on existing marketplaces, must it notify its own website?
If the company sells only through third-party platforms and runs no sales website of its own, the sales-website notification duty does not arise from marketplace activity. The moment it opens its own sales site, the notification under Decree 248/2026/ND-CP applies in full.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council