Keywords
unfair commercial practices, competition law, competition harms: e-commerce
Abstract
The intricacies of unfair commercial practices within the e-commerce platforms market highlight a critical and urgent necessity for an evolution in both consumer protection and competition laws. As new consumer vulnerabilities emerge or existing ones are exacerbated in e-commerce, effective rules are needed to better protect consumers, govern businesses and regulate a healthy competitive dynamic in the market. This article examines the interplay between consumer protection law and competition law in addressing unfair commercial practices of e-commerce platforms. The large-scale deployment of unfair commercial practices by e-commerce platforms may result in anti-competitive effects, thereby undermining fair and effective market competition. Yet, in the ASEAN region, unfair commercial practices often fall under consumer protection law rather than competition law. A lack of synergy between consumer protection law and competition law undermines the regulatory efforts in promoting fair market practices. This paper employs qualitative content analysis with comparative analysis of the ASEAN countries’ competition law development, highlighting the importance of regulating unfair commercial practices in preventing anti-competitive effects and promoting fair market competition in the e-commerce platforms market.
Acknowledgements
Funding
Dr Ong Tze Chin’s work is part of the fulfilment of the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education’s Fundamental Research Grant Scheme titled “A Framework for Competition Law on Digital Market of E-Commerce Platforms in Malaysia” (Reference No.: FRGS/1/2022/ SSI12/UM/02/8). Dr Ong Tze Chin is the PI of this project. Lee Mei Fei’s work is part of her PhD and graduate research assistantship program, funded by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education’s Fundamental Research Grant Scheme titled “A Framework for Competition Law on Digital Market of E-Commerce Platforms in Malaysia” (Reference No.: FRGS/1/2022/SSI12/UM/02/8), led by Dr. Ong Tze Chin, a senior lecturer at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).
Declaration of Conflict of Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and publication of this article.
Declaration about the scope of AI utilization
The authors declared using AI tools in the preparation of this article.
We want to thank the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education for the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS/1/2022/SSI12/UM/02/8) awarded to Dr Ong Tze Chin. The authors are also extremely thankful to the Faculty of Law, University Malaya, for the technical assistance and for providing the necessary resource facilities for this research.
Recommended Citation
Lee, M., & Ong, T. (2025). Competitive Harms of Unfair Commercial Practices in the E-commerce Platforms Market: The Way Forward for ASEAN. Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies, 18(31). https://doi.org/10.7172/1689-9024.YARS.2025.18.31.7
Page Count
32
Received Date
12.05.2025
Accepted Date
6.07.2025
DOI
10.7172/1689-9024.YARS.2025.18.31.7
JEL Code
K21, L4, L42
Publisher
University of Warsaw
