Code Quickguide

Section 43 (1) (e) of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act of 2002 (the Act) requires, as part of the information that must be made available to consumers on a supplier's website, the code of conduct which the supplier subscribes to and how that code of conduct may be accessed electronically by the consumer.  Section 43 (1) (o) of the Act requires information regarding the alternative dispute resolution code to which that supplier subscribes and how the wording of that code may be accessed electronically by the consumer;

Adherence to a code is recognized as a significant contribution towards effective self-regulation in the public interest and enhances trust.

Any subscriber submitting to the jurisdiction of Onlineombud to resolve unsettled disputes is required to subscribe to the Code.

The key principles underlying the Code

Principle I: Truthful and Accurate Communications.
Online advertisers should not engage in deceptive or misleading practices with regard to any aspect of electronic commerce, including advertising, marketing, or in their use of technology. 

Principle II:  Disclosure.
Online suppliers should disclose to their customers and prospective customers information about the business, the goods or services available for purchase online, and the transaction itself.

Principle III:  Information Practices and Security.
Online advertisers should adopt information practices that treat customers’ personal information with care.  They should post and adhere to a privacy policy based on fair information principles, take appropriate measures to provide adequate security, and respect customers’ preferences regarding unsolicited email. 

Principle IV: Customer Satisfaction.
Online suppliers should seek to ensure their customers are satisfied by honoring their representations, answering questions, and resolving customer complaints and disputes in a timely and responsive manner.

Onlineombud
Code of Online Business Practices

1.  Introduction

(a)THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS CODE ARE TO:

• Promote ethical business- to-customer conduct in electronic commerce,
• Promote good relationships between online suppliers (suppliers) and consumers,
• Promote customer trust and confidence in online commerce
• Promote customer satisfaction and,
• Provide customers with a means of resolving disputes with suppliers.

• Conduct business in good faith, with integrity, fairness, honesty, and in a transparent manner.
• Strive continuously to provide an efficient, effective and helpful service to their customer to ensure a high standard of satisfaction.
• Comply with all applicable legislation.
• Not issue statements or advertisements that make false, misleading and/or extravagant claims.
• Protect and respect the privacy of the consumers’ information obtained from various sources, and obtain the consent from consumers to allow for the sharing of appropriate information.
• Display the Tanzanite Reliability Seal.
• Accept the jurisdiction of Onlineombud to make binding determinations based on this Code and on the law where appropriate, and to make recommendations in other circumstances including those based on equity. If a supplier refuses to abide by a recommendation of Onlineombud, Onlineombud may publish the recommendation and the relevant refusal to comply, and if a supplier refuses to abide by a determination of Onlineombud, Onlineombud may enforce the decision in court and terminate the supplier’s contract with Onlineombud and publish that fact.
• Ensure that their employees are familiar with this Code.

2.  Terms: 

a) The Act: The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, No. 25 of 2002,

b) Online Advertiser:  A person or entity acts as an “online advertiser” when it promotes its own goods or services on the Internet.  Therefore, code provisions referring to online advertisers apply when the business is acting as an online advertiser for a particular activity.    If in certain situations an online advertiser acts as an online supplier (see definition below), then in those situations, it must also comply with the online supplier Code requirements.

c) Online Supplier:  A person or entity acts as an “online supplier” when it offers its own goods and services online and accepts online orders.  A business may act as an online supplier in certain situations but not in others.  Therefore, Code provisions referring to online suppliers apply when the business is acting as an online supplier for a particular activity.  All online suppliers are also online advertisers and as such, shall adhere to online advertiser Code provisions as well.

d) Purchase:  For purposes of this Code, the term “purchase” is intended to be used broadly and is meant to include other transactions, including but not limited to, leasing, licensing or barter. 

3.   Principles for Ethical Business-to-Customer Conduct

Princliple I. Truthful and Accurate Communications.

Online advertisers shall not engage in deceptive or misleading trade practices with regard to any aspect of electronic commerce, including advertising, marketing, or in their use of technology.

A. Online advertisers shall engage in truthful advertising.  They shall not make deceptive or misleading representations or omissions of material facts.

1. Online advertisers shall be able to substantiate any express or reasonably implied factual claims made in their advertising or marketing and shall possess reasonable substantiation prior to disseminating a claim.

2. Online advertisers shall disclose their advertising or marketing to be such if failure to do so would be misleading.

a) For example, if material information in an advertisement appears misleading because it is difficult to distinguish between editorial content and advertising, the advertising shall be labeled as such. 
b) Likewise, online advertisers shall not disguise advertising as technical or desktop functionality when doing so would mislead customers into clicking on the advertisement thinking that they were actually performing a technical function.

B. Online advertisers shall use Internet technology to promote the customer’s knowledge of the products or services being offered and shall not use technology to mislead customers. 

1. Online advertisers shall not mislead online customers by creating the false impression of sponsorship, endorsement, popularity, trustworthiness, product quality or business size through the misuse of hyperlinks, “seals”, other technology, or another’s intellectual property.

2. Online advertisers may use hyperlinks to add to or supplement information about goods or services but shall not misleadingly use hyperlinks or information provided via a hyperlink to:

a) contradict or substantially change the meaning of any material statement or claim,
b) create the false impression of affiliation,
c) create the false impression that the content, merchandise or service of another’s business is their own.

3. Online advertisers shall only use search terms or mechanisms that fairly reflect the content of their site.

4. Online advertisers shall make sure that any third-party “seals” or endorsements that incorporate links to self-regulatory or ethical standard programs are functional so that customers can easily verify membership in the seal program and determine its purpose, scope, and standards.

5. Online advertisers shall not knowingly link to, or accept affinity or royalty payments from, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal sites.

6. Online advertisers shall not deceptively interfere with a customer’s browser, computer, or any appliance the customer uses to access the Internet. 

Principle II. Disclosure.

Online suppliers shall disclose to their customers and prospective customers information about the business, the goods or services available for purchase online, and the transaction itself. 

A. All information required by this Code shall meet the following standards:

1. It shall be clear, accurate, and easy to find and understand;
2. It shall be readily accessible online and can appear via a noticeable and descriptive hyperlink or other similarly effective mechanism; 
3. It shall be presented such that customers can access and maintain an adequate record of it; and
4. If the information relates to the goods or services available for purchase online or the transaction itself, it shall be accessible prior to the consummation of the transaction.

B. Information About the Business: 

1.   Online suppliers shall provide, in addition to the information required by section 43 of Act, the following information online:

a) sufficient information, including country, to ensure the customer can locate the business offline,
b) an online method of contact such as e-mail,
c) a point of contact within the organization that is responsible for customer inquires, and 
d) a telephone number unless to do so would be disruptive to the operation of the business given its size and resources and then, the supplier shall maintain a working listed phone number.

2. Online suppliers that register an Internet domain name shall provide complete and accurate information to the authorized Internet registrar with which they register and shall use the appropriate top-level domain for the type of business registered.

3. Online suppliers shall ensure that the name of their bank account or credit card supplier agreement is the same as their Internet domain name.

C. Information About the Online Transaction Itself:
Online suppliers shall, in addition to the information required by section 43 of the Act, provide enough information about the online transaction itself so that customers can make an informed choice about whether to engage in the online transaction.

1. Online suppliers shall disclose material information about the online transaction itself including, but not limited to:
a) terms of the transaction,
b) product availability/shipping information, and
c) prices and customer costs,

2. And shall provide the customer with an opportunity to:
a) review and approve the transaction and
b) receive a confirmation. 

3. If the online supplier chooses to provide some information in more than one language, all material information about the transaction shall be available in the selected languages. 

D. Terms of the Online Transaction:
Online suppliers shall provide the terms of the online transaction including but not limited to:

1. Any restrictions or limitations (for example, time or geographic) they impose on the sale of the goods or services;
2. Easy-to-use payment mechanisms;
3. Return or refund policies, including how customers can make returns or exchanges; obtain refunds or credits; or cancel a transaction; and any associated time limitations or associated fees;.
4. The customer’s right to cancel the transaction under section 44 of the Act.
5. For products, any warrantees, guarantees or other offered terms, including limitations and conditions, if any;
6. For services, any material standards, schedules, fees, or other offered terms, including limitation and conditions;
7. For contests, sweepstakes or other similar promotions, the complete rules adjacent to, or in a hyperlink or similar technology adjacent to, the promotion itself; and
8. For ongoing transactions or subscriptions:
a) information about how the transaction will appear on the bill so that the customer can easily identify the business and the transaction on the bill. 
b) easy-to-understand cancellation information, an easy to use means to cancel an ongoing subscription, and timely confirmation of such cancellation.

E. Product Availability/Terms of Shipping:
Online suppliers shall:
1. Note which products or services are temporarily unavailable and in those instances:
a) provide information about when the customer will be charged for the transaction; and
b) if an expected availability date is provided for unavailable products or services, have a reasonable basis for such date.

2. Have a reasonable basis for, and provide customers with, estimated shipping times (or in the case of online delivery, delivery times) (if such times are unknown at the time of the online transaction, the online supplier shall provide the information via a timely follow-up e-mail but shall provide the customer with the opportunity to cancel the transaction if the time indicated is unacceptable);

3. Have a reasonable basis for stated delivery claims when made;

4. Disclose any shipping, performance, or delivery limitations they impose (age, geographic); and

5. If a material delay in shipping or performance occurs, provide the customer with timely information about the delay and the opportunity to cancel the transaction.

6. If the delay in shipping or performance exceeds 30 days, inform the customer of their right to cancel the transaction under section 46 of the Act.

7. Be able to track on line the location of the product while it is in transit to the customer.

F. Prices and Customer Costs:
Online suppliers shall:
1. Disclose, in a specified currency, an itemized list of the prices or fees and expected customer costs to be collected by the online supplier with regard to an online transaction, including but not limited to:
a) price or license fee to be charged, or in the case of a barter trade, the items that will be exchanged for goods or services purchased or licensed;
b) expected shipping and handling charges (if such charges are unknown at the time of the online transaction, the online supplier shall provide the information via a timely follow-up e-mail but shall provide the customer with the opportunity to cancel the transaction if the costs are unacceptable); and
c) expected taxes or other government imposed fees collected by the online supplier related to the transaction, etc.;

2. Provide a generalized description of other routine costs and fees related to the transaction that may be incurred by the customer such as tariffs or routine subscription fees that may not be collected by the online supplier;

3. Clearly identify the supplier’s name and website address on any subsequent statements or other billing information; and

4. Honour the amount authorized by the customer in any subsequent bills to the customer.

G. Provide Opportunity to Review and Approve Transaction
Prior to completion of the transaction, online suppliers shall provide customers with the option to review the online transaction and to confirm their intent to enter into the transaction by providing a summary that includes:
1. Information about the online transaction (as outlined in sections above);
2. The selected payment method; and
3. The option to cancel or affirmatively complete the transaction.

H. Provide Confirmation of the Sale:
Online suppliers shall provide customers with the option to receive a confirmation of the transaction after the transaction has been completed. The confirmation shall include:
1. A line-itemed statement of what was ordered, the price, and any other known charges such as shipping/handling and taxes,
2. Sufficient contact information to enable purchasers to obtain order status updates, and
3. The anticipated date of shipment.

Principle III. Information Practices and Security.

we subscribe seal of conduct