Article 3 of the Saudi E-Commerce Law
المادة 3 من نظام التجارة الإلكترونية
The Article sets the service provider's place of business: the merchant's commercial register address, and the place specified in the e-store for the practitioner, with rules for multiple places and for none.
Official text (Arabic)
This article has not been amended since the law was issued.
1- يقصد بمقر عمل موفر الخدمة لأغراض تطبيق أحكام النظام ما يأتي:
أ- بالنسبة إلى التاجر، يكون مقر عمله عنوانه المحدد في سجله التجاري.
ب- بالنسبة إلى الممارس، يكون مقر عمله المكان الذي يحدده في محله الإلكتروني، ما لم يثبت غير ذلك.
2- إذا كان لموفر الخدمة أكثر من مقر عمل ولم يحدد أحدها، يكون مقر العمل المعتد به هو المقر الأوثق صلة بالعقد، مع مراعاة الظروف التي كان الأطراف على علم بها أو توقعوها في أي وقت قبل إبرام العقد أو عند إبرامه.
3- إذا لم يكن للممارس ذي الشخصية الطبيعية مقر عمل، يكون المقر المعتد به محل إقامته النظامي، وتحدد اللائحة المعايير والشروط اللازمة لذلك.
4- لا يعد المكان مقر عمل لمجرد أنه يضم المعدات والتقنية الداعمة لنظام المعلومات الذي يستخدمه موفر الخدمة في إبرام العقد، أو يمكن فيه لأطراف أخرى أن تصل إلى نظام المعلومات المعني.
5- استخدام موفر الخدمة اسم نطاق أو عنوان بريد إلكتروني ذا صلة بدولة معينة لا ينشئ قرينة على أن مقر عمله يوجد في تلك الدولة.
This is the official Arabic wording, the only legally binding version. We do not translate the law itself; the explanation below is ours. Official source: Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers
Article 3 explained in plain English
This Article answers the question: where is the service provider's place of business? This matters for applying the Law's provisions. It sets clear rules for this:
- The merchant: his place of business is the address specified in his commercial register.
- The practitioner: his place of business is the place he specifies in his e-store, unless otherwise proven; that is, what the practitioner writes is a presumption that can be rebutted.
- Multiple places: if the service provider has more than one place of business and has not specified one, the place most closely connected to the contract is used, taking into account the circumstances the parties knew of or expected before or at the time of concluding the contract.
- No place: if a practitioner who is a natural person has no place of business, his legal place of residence is used, and the Regulations set the criteria and conditions for this.
The Article rules out inferences that may seem logical but do not count:
- The place where the servers or equipment and technology supporting the information system are located is not a place of business merely for that reason, nor is the place from which others can access the information system.
- Using a domain name or email address connected with a particular country does not create a presumption that the place of business is in that country.
This Article is linked to Article 2, which makes the Law apply to the service provider inside the Kingdom and to the practitioner outside it who offers products or services inside it. Where there is a dispute about the place of business of a particular service provider, consulting a lawyer specialized in commercial cases is advised.
Practical example
Khalid is a practitioner who sells perfumes through a website whose domain ends in a foreign country code, and his site's servers are hosted outside the Kingdom, but he wrote in his e-store that his place of business is in Dammam. Under the Article, neither the domain nor the location of the servers puts his place of business abroad, and his place of business is the place he specified in his e-store unless otherwise proven.
Translated from our Arabic explanation with machine assistance. For guidance only; it does not replace advice from a lawyer on your situation.
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Frequently asked questions about Article 3 of the Saudi E-Commerce Law
What is a merchant's place of business in e-commerce?
The merchant's place of business is the address specified in his commercial register.
Does the place where the site is hosted determine the store's place of business?
No, a place is not a place of business merely because it houses the equipment and technology supporting the information system the service provider uses.
What is the rule if the practitioner has no place of business?
If the practitioner is a natural person with no place of business, his legal place of residence is used, and the Regulations set the criteria and conditions for this.
Does the site's domain show the store's country?
No, using a domain name or email address connected with a particular country does not create a presumption that the place of business is in that country.
More articles on Electronic Contracts and Invoices
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- Article 10
The Article makes the electronic advertisement a supplementary contractual document binding on the parties, and requires it to include the product or service name, the service provider's name and his contact means.
1- يُعد الإعلان الإلكتروني من الوثائق التعاقدية المكملة للعقود وملزمة لأطراف العقد. 2- يجب أن يتضمن الإعلان الإلكتروني ما يأتي: أ- اسم المنتج أو الخدمة المعلن ع
- Article 14
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1- ما لم يتفق موفر الخدمة والمستهلك على مدة أخرى لتسليم محل العقد أو تنفيذه، يحق للمستهلك فسخ العقد إذا تأخر موفر الخدمة عن التسليم أو التنفيذ مدة تزيد على (خمس
The texts are reproduced from the official website of the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers for reference; where they differ, the officially published Arabic text prevails. This content is not legal advice.