INTRODUCTION

Information communication Technology (ICT) and Globalization has changed the way through
which business transactions are conducted. Electronic commerce is the new means of doing
business and this has caused companies to invest in Information communication Technology
(ICT) to promote growth. Electronic commerce involves the use of the internet and ICT to
facilitate business transactions1. Abdul Gaffar Khan (2016)2 simply puts that, electronic
commerce is the buying and selling of goods via the internet. The OECD (2019), defines
electronic commerce to mean, ‘the sale or purchase of goods or services conducted over
computer networks by methods specifically designed to receive or place orders’3. The number of
persons who utilizes electronic commerce platforms for the purchase of goods and services in the
Uk will cross the 60 million mark 4. The exponential growth in the electronic commerce space in
the past three decades has caused countries and regional bodies to enact laws and amend their
laws to regulate the platform5.Technically an electronic platform is the foundation on which apps
run and Apps are the computer software programs that performs specific task 6. It must be noted
that both an e-commerce platform and the delivery app run electronically with help of the
Internet.

Electronic commercial transactions are the main components of electronic commerce 7. These
transactions involve the deals between individuals and entities, or entities and entities, or
1
Jain, Vipin & Malviya, Bindoo & Arya, Satyendra. “An Overview of Electronic Commerce (e-Commerce)”
(2021).Journal of Contemporary Issues in Business and Government.

2
Abdul Gaffar Khan “Electronic Commerce: A Study on Benefits and Challenges in an Emerging Economy “
(2016),.Global Journal of Management and Business Research: B Economics and Commerce Volume 16 Issue 1
Version 1.0

3
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/fda9b276-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/fda9b276-en

4
Statista 2022;vE-commerce in the United Kingdom (UK) - statistics & facts
https://www.statista.com/topics/2333/e-commerce-in-the-united-kingdom/#topicOverview

5
Murray, Information Technology Law: Law and Society (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4 th ed. 2019), Part IV:
E-Commerce.

6
https://www.outsystems.com/glossary/platforms-vs-applications/#:~:text=A%20platform%20runs%20on
%20both,and%20connect%20with%20external%20systems.
individuals and individuals all on the internet. E- commerce has come to stay, as the World
transitions into a global village. The World bodies such as the United Nations and the World
Trade Organizations, regional bodies like the European Union (EU) have established rules and
regulations that affect electronic transactions in the World and Europe respectively. Both the
rules by the World bodies and the EU rules affect transactions on the internet in all countries
across the World and Europe respectively, of which the UK is not an exception.

INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL REGULATIONS

The UNCITRAL has come up with a series of legislative frameworks to facilitate the use of
electronic means for trade and commerce, which have been adopted in over 100 countries across
the globe. The most influential piece of legal framework is the UNCITRAL Model Law on
Electronic Commerce (1996)8. This legal framework establishes rules regarding the equal
treatment of electronic information and the legal recognition of electronic transactions. These
rules are rooted in the principles of non-discrimination against the use of electronic platforms to
transact business and technology impartiality. The UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic
Signatures (2001)9 also provides rules on the functions of electronic signatures. This law helps
get some technical reliability on electronic signatures and it establishes some sort of equivalence
between an electronic signature and a written signature.

The UNITRAL legal framework is very important because, The United Nations Convention on
the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts (New York, 2005)10 is built on
7
Wang, F., Law of Electronic Commercial Transactions: Contemporary Issues in the EU, US and China (Oxford:
Routledge, 2010), Chapter 3-6;

8
UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce
1996;https://uncitral.un.org/en/texts/ecommerce/modellaw/electronic_commerce#:~:text=The%20Model%20Law
%20on%20Electronic,legal%20predictability%20for%20electronic%20commerce.

9
UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures
2001.https://uncitral.un.org/en/texts/ecommerce/modellaw/electronic_signatures#:~:text=The%20Model%20Law
%20on%20Electronic,electronic%20and%20hand%2Dwritten%20signatures.

10
United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications on International Contracts
2005.https://uncitral.un.org/en/texts/ecommerce/conventions/electronic_communications
the already existing UNCITRAL rules. The agreement established as the first treaty that gives
legal certainty to electronic contracts.

In 2017, the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (2017) 11 was enacted
to enable the use of electronic forms of transferable documents such as the bill of lading, bills of
exchange, and other warehouse receipts. Knowledge of the rules would be very crucial to
businesses since the UK is part of the international community and has to adhere to these rules.

The EU has enacted a lot of rules and measures to sanitize the electronic commerce space. There
is the Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June
201912 that aims at enhancing fairness and transparency for consumers and providers on the
electronic commerce platform within the EU.

Moreover, the General Data Protection Regulation ('GDPR') Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 201613 is also crucial for electronic
commerce within the EU. This piece of legislation by the EU parliament entreats member states
to ensure the protection of their citizens when it comes to the processing of data by providers on
electronic commerce platforms; it also allows the free movement of personal data in the sub-
region.

In addition, there is the 95/46/EC Geo-Blocking Regulation (EU) 2018/302 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 28 February 2018 14. This piece of legislation tries to discourage
unjustified geo-blocking and any other form of partiality based on the national affiliation of the
customer, where the customer resides, or the place of establishment. These pieces of legislation
should serve as a guide to Drone businesses in setting up their plan to provide services to the

11
The UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records
(2017).https://uncitral.un.org/en/texts/ecommerce/modellaw/electronic_transferable_records#:~:text=The%20Model
%20Law%20on%20Electronic,to%20transferable%20documents%20or%20instruments.

12
The Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019.L 186/57

13
General Data Protection Regulation ('GDPR') Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 27 April 2016. (OJ L 119, 4.5. 2016, pp. 1–88)

14
The 95/46/EC Geo-Blocking Regulation Regulation (EU) 2018/302 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 28 February 2018.
people in the UK. The standard of fairness, non-discrimination, and protection of the data of the
consumers are very crucial to the European Union, therefore prospective drone businesses should
try to include these principles in their constitution or their key Performance Indicators.

Legal Issues.

1.What are the laws that regulates the establishment and operations of e-commerce platform in
the U.k

2. What are the laws that regulate the establishment and operations of a delivery app as in this
instance.

3. What is the general protection U.k gives to its Consumers through stablished laws/rules.

E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS REGULATIONS IN THE UK

The UK government has come out with a lot of enactments and legislation to regulate the
electronic commerce space. In the UK, electronic space is regulated by the Electronic Commerce
(EC Directive) Regulations 200215, which implements the EU's Electronic Commerce Directive
2000. The regulation was established to harmonize and clarify the rules of e-commerce business
operation in the UK and it covers virtually every form of electronic transaction in the UK. In the
view of the UK's Department of Trade and Industry, as it then was, the act does not restrict itself
to selling and buying online alone.

The regulation defines what an information society service is, and it states that "any service
normally provided for remuneration at a distance, through electronic equipment for the
processing (including digital compression) and storage of data, at the individual request of a
recipient of the service’.
15
Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002. SI 2002/2013
In the famous case of Google France SARL, Google Inc v Louis Vuitton Malletier SA and others
(2010)16, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) was tasked by the Court of
Cassation (of France) to ascertain whether Google Search was an information society service.
In the ruling, the CJEU was of the view that any internet referencing service constituted an
information society service.

Also in the case of L'Oreal v eBay (2011)17. L'Oreal instituted an action against eBay and sellers
on eBay for selling to clients products of L'Oreal without seeking the consent of L’Oreal. One
major contention that the court had to deal with was whether the operations of Ebay in the UK
was one of information society service. The Court ruled that eBay’s operations on the online
platform made is an information society service. Per the definition in the law and the cases, it can
be concluded that the drone delivery company which proposes to use e-commerce platform via
online falls under the information society and for that matter, should operate under the directive.

In establishing an e-commerce platform in the UK, section 9 of the Companies Act 2006 18
requires that certain information, such as the proposed name, nature of business, particulars of
directors and shareholders and the stated capital of the proposed company must be included in
the company’s document for registration of the company.

In establishing an e-commerce platform in the UK, the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive)
Regulations 2002 and the Companies Act 2006, provides that the information below must be
included in the website of the company.

1. Name of the Company

2. Address of the company

3. E-mail address of the company

4. the company registration number.

16
Google France SARL, Google Inc v Louis Vuitton Malletier SA and others (2010).Joined Cases C-236/08 to C-
238/08

17
L'Oreal v eBay (2011) C-324/09

18
The Companies Act (UK) 2006, Section 9
5. Value Added Tax number (VAT)

6. Terms and conditions that consumers can easily read and understand

7. the trade organization that company is part of.

Moreover, in operating in the e-commerce space, certain business actions have to be done
electronically and these actions need to be backed by law. The Electronic Identification and
Trust Services for Electronic Transactions Regulation 2016 19 that establishes a legal framework
that backs the following electronic actions; electronic signatures, electronic documents,
electronic seals, electronic time stamps, electronic delivery services which are registered, and
certificate services for website authentication. The legislation further increases confidence in
the use of electronic transactions when it comes to verifying the identity of individuals and
businesses online and verifying the authenticity of electronic data. Since the company proposes
to operate electronically, this act would back most of the electronic transactions that would
happen on the e-commerce platform.

From the question, the services to be provided by the proposed drone company is B2c (business
to consumer) contract, therefore knowledge of the contract law in the UK is very important for
this kind of business venture. The general common law that evolved from case laws is very
crucial as far as contracts in the UK are concerned. However, the position of the common law is
subject to statutory provisions. For every contract to be effective, there must be an offer, and
the common law position on offer in Gibson vs Manchester City Council 20 is that an offer must
be definite and must be in the form which when assented to, the offeror would be bound to the
contract. It is important to distinguish an offer from an invitation to treat, in the case of Partridge
v Crittendon21in which general advertisement was held to be an invitation to treat. It is also
important to note that the mere display of items on the shelf of a shop cannot be considered an
offer. In the case of operating a drone service on an e-commerce platform, the case of Carlill vs

19
The Electronic Identification and Trust Services for Electronic Transactions Regulation 2016 (2016 No.696)

20
Gibson v Manchester City Council [1979] 1 WLR 294

21
Partridge v Crittendon (1968) 1 W.L.R. 1204 20s
Carbolic Smoke Ball22 is of much importance and is an example of business to consumers
contracts. This case posits that a company can make a unilateral offer to the world and when an
individual accepts the Unilateral contract, it becomes binding on the individual and the company.

Moreover, another issue that arises in contract law is the acceptance in the contract. Under
Common Law, acceptance becomes effective the moment it is clearly communicated to the
offeror. There are so many ways through which an acceptance may be communicated to the
offeror. The various means includes, post, telex, email and other electronic means. The postal
rule states that acceptance becomes effective as soon as the post is sent and not when the post is
received. (Adams v Lindsell)23. when using emails or other electronic means of communication,
Article.11 (1)24 of the EU directive on electronic commerce, provides that for the electronic mail
to be effective, the service provider has to acknowledge the receipt by electronic means.

In the case of Entores v Miles Far East Corp. 25The House of Lords was of the opinion that telex
sent from the Netherlands for the acceptance of a contract only became effective when it reached
the recipient in England. The drone delivery company must also know that children will not be
liable at common law for contracts unless it is a contract for necessities or a contract in
furtherance of trade.

REGULATIONS FOR DELIVERY APPS IN THE UK.

An app is a computer program designed to perform specific tasks, and in this situation the
delivery App would be designed to perform the task of delivering goods for consumers in the
United Kingdom. In registering business for the Delivery App in the UK, the proposed drone
company can decide to register the drone company to have its object of business as: operating an
e-commerce platform and a delivery App. In the instance case, the nature of business would be a
business to consumers’ contract. The general common law principles of contract would apply in
the transaction as discussed in the regulations in the E-commerce space above. It should also be

22
Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co (1893 )EWCA Civ 1

23
Adams v Lindsell (1818) 1 B & Ald. 681

24
Directive 2000/31/EC, OJ L 178 p.1, 17 Jul 2000.

25
Entores Ltd v Miles Far East Corporation [1955] EWCA Civ 3
noted that the display of items in the shelf of a shop is not an offer (Fisher vs Bell 26), therefore
products or services that would be displayed on the App does not constitute an offer but an
invitation to treat. when the consumer selects the item or the service, that is when the offer is
made for the App to accept or not.

DATA PROTECTION AND CONSUMER PROTECTION IN THE UK

The UK government endeavours to protect its citizens when consuming products and services
from their respective providers. There is a need for the drone company to look at data protection
laws in the UK when dealing with consumers electronically. The data of the Uk citizenry is very
important to the Uk government and for that matter it tries as much as possible to protect these
data, from unlawful use of these data by companies who have access to them. One important
piece of legislation so far regarding data protection for consumers is the UK General Data
Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). This piece of legislation tries to give data consumers more
control over how their data is processed. It places a range of obligations on organizations that
process and control the processing of personal data. It further explains the general data protection
regime that applies to most UK businesses and organizations. It covers the UK General Data
Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), tailored by the Data Protection Act 2018.27

The act explains each of the data protection principles, rights, and obligations. It summarizes the
key points you need to know, answers frequently asked questions, and contains practical
checklists to help you comply. Therefore, for the drone business to operate in the UK without
going against the Data Protection Act 2018, there is the need to have knowledge about the act,
most especially the checklist for compliance.

In the recent case of Rolfe & Ors v. Veale Wasbrough Vizards LLP [2021] EWHC 28
The
defendant sent an email including a limited number of claimants’ data to a third party by
mistake, and this resulted in a suit against them for misuse of private information. The claimants
asserted that the action by the defendant was a misuse of private information, breach of
confidence, negligence, and for that matter it was in contravention with the GDPR and Data
26
Fisher v Bell [1961] 1 QB 394

27
Data Protection Act UK 2018 .

28
Rolfe & Ors v. Veale Wasbrough Vizards LLP [2021] EWHC
Protection Act 2018 (“DPA 201829”), the claimant insisted that the actions by the defendant
company has resulted in distress and loss of personnel control of data, therefore prayed the court
to award them some remedy for damage suffered. In contrast to this assertion by the claimants
the defendant admitted the mistake but defended that the incident did not exceed the threshold of
harm as contained in GDPR and DPA 2018.

It was held by the court that, when claims of data protection violations are breached under the
GDPR and DPA 2018, there should be evidence of harm, and continued that in the modern world
the court will not entertain suit against companies for breach of the data protection which is
trivial. This ruling by the court would go long way to promote e-commerce business, and it was
very important that court took into consideration transactions electronically are normally
associated with mistakes and for that matter, for an action to succeed there must be evidence of
damage suffered, to prevent consumers from taking advantage of the law to stifle business
operations on the internet.

In addition, the UK government has a lot of legislation to protect its consumers (citizenry) that
the proposed drone company should be aware of. A major consumer protection legislation in the
UK is the Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. These regulations prohibit misleading and unfair
statements on products and services. Therefore, Businesses that put misleading products and
services on their electronic platforms to entice customers may go against this legislation. There
also exist the consumer Rights Act (2015) 30that works to consolidate all consumer protection
regulations in the United Kingdom. This law protects consumers on the electronic commerce
platforms in the Uk.

The celebrated case of David Taylor v Lawrence Fraser (Bristol) Ltd (1977)31 is of much relevant
consideration in this regard. In this case, the Toys (Safety) Regulations 1974 was tested in court
32
. The facts of the case is that the defendant had supplied toys painted with excess lead that were
harmful to children who were going to use the toys. The defendants argued the manufacturers

29
DPA 2018 supra

30
consumer Rights Act UK (2015). https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/contents/enacted

31
David Taylor v Lawrence Fraser (Bristol) Ltd (1977) 121SJ 757

32
Toys (Safety) Regulations 1974. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1974/1367/made
told them that the products complied with all regulations and that the local Trading Standards
Officers had had frequent visits to their company. The court rejected this defense and said the
defendant should have analysed the painting before bringing it into the market, and that the
defendants could not derogate that responsibility to the local Trading Standards Officers.

Also, in the case of Riley v Webb (1987) 33, the Pencils and Graphic Instruments (Safety)
Regulations 1974 was tested in court. According to the facts of the cases the defendants who
were wholesalers for certain products had put out for sale certain goods which were in
contravention with the Pencils and Graphic Instruments (Safety) Regulations 1974 and for that
matter were prosecuted under the Consumer Protection Act 1961. It was argued in the defense
that they had condition in their contract with their suppliers that the goods met the legal
requirements. They also claimed that suppliers have been dealing with them for 15 years. The
court ruled against defendants on the reason that the defendants failed to have specific conditions
from the suppliers to meet the requirements of the Pencils and Graphic Instruments (Safety)
Regulations 1974. The court also posited that the said condition that defendant claim to have in
the contract between them and the suppliers could not be in their defence since there was no
separate condition on the goods in contention. Consumer protection is very key as far e-
commerce in the UK is concerned, therefore companies that want to deal with consumers in the
UK should have the Knowledge of Consumer Protection legislations in the UK.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the delivery company can decide to provide delivery services to consumers in the
UK, however, there are certain regulations and requirements that the company has to follow.
The UNCITRAL at the International Level has laid down regulations that ensure equity in the e-
commerce space, the EU has passed several directives to ensure transparency and fairness in the
space they propose to operate. Furthermore, the EU also has directives for the protection of the
data of its members in the e-commerce space. In the UK there are several pieces of legislation to
regulate the e-commerce space. The company must be registered in accordance with the Uk’s
companies Act of 2006 before any form of business operations can kick-start. In this instance,
the company can choose to register a separate company for the e-commerce platform and a
33
Riley v Webb (1987) 151 JP 372 - S 39 CPA
separate one for the Delivery App. In the same vein, the company can choose to register one
company under the Companies Act of 2006 and have the objects of the business being an e-
commerce platform and delivery App. The operation nature of the business that the company
proposes to operate is one of Business to consumer contracts and for that matter, the common
law position of contract is critical. However, the common law is subject to statutory provisions.
There are rules that protect the data of consumers such as the Data protection law of 2018 34.
There also exist laws that protect consumers in general such as the Consumers Right Act (2015).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PRIMARY SOURCES

CASES

1. Adams v Lindsell (1818) 1 B & Ald. 681

2. Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co - 1893 EWCA Civ 1
3. David Taylor v Lawrence Fraser (Bristol) Ltd (1977) 121SJ 757
4. Entores Ltd v Miles Far East Corporation [1955] EWCA Civ 3
5. Fisher v Bell [1961] 1 QB 394
6. Google France SARL, Google Inc v Louis Vuitton Malletier SA and others (2010).Joined
Cases C-236/08 to C-238/08
7. Gibson v Manchester City Council [1979] 1 WLR 294
8. L'Oreal v eBay (2011) C-324/09
9. Partridge v Crittendon (1968) 1 W.L.R. 1204 20s
10. Rolfe & Ors v. Veale Wasbrough Vizards LLP [2021] EWHC
11. Riley v Webb (1987) 151 JP 372 - S 39 CPA
34
DPA 2018 supra
STATUTES AND STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

12. consumer Rights Act UK (2015). Available at

13. Data Protection Act UK 2018
14. Directive 2000/31/EC, OJ L 178 p.1, 17 Jul 2000.
15. Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002. SI 2002/2013
16. The Companies Act (UK) 2006.
17. The Electronic Identification and Trust Services for Electronic Transactions Regulation
2016 (2016 No.696)
18. Toys (Safety) Regulations 1974.

INTERNATIONAL AND EU REGULATIONS

19. General Data Protection Regulation ('GDPR') Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016. (OJ L 119, 4.5. 2016, pp. 1–88)
20. The Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20
June 2019.L 186/57
21. UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce 1996
22. UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures 2001
23. United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications on International
Contracts 2005.
24. UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (2017)

SECONDARY SOURCES

BOOKS

25. Murray, Information Technology Law: Law and Society (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 4 th ed. 2019), Part IV: E-Commerce.
26. , F., Law of Electronic Commercial Transactions: Contemporary Issues in the EU, US
and China (Oxford: Routledge, 2010), Chapter 3-6;
JOURNAL ARTICLES

27. Jain, Vipin & Malviya, Bindoo & Arya, Satyendra, ‘ An Overview of Electronic
Commerce (e-Commerce). Journal of Contemporary Issues in Business and
Government’. (2021).27. 665-670. 10.47750/cibg.2021.27.03.090
28. Abdul Gaffar Khan, ‘Electronic Commerce: A Study on Benefits and Challenges in an
Emerging Economy .Global Journal of Management and Business Research’. B
Economics and Commerce Volume 16 Issue 1 Version 1.0 (2016)

WEBSITES AND BLOGS

29. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/fda9b276-en/index.html?itemId=/content/
component/fda9b276-en
30. https://www.outsystems.com/glossary/platforms-vs-applications/#:~:text=A%20platform
%20runs%20on%20both,and%20connect%20with%20external%20systems
31. Statista 2022;vE-commerce in the United Kingdom (UK) - statistics & facts. Available at
https://www.statista.com/topics/2333/e-commerce-in-the-united-kingdom/
#topicOverview (Accessed 21 Dec 2022)
.