Transacting Safely with Standards: Anti-Scam Updates to TR 76
Date: 08-06-2022
Amendment to Technical Reference (TR) 76 on E-Commerce Transactions
The Enterprise Singapore has published a press release on 14 May to announce the revision made to Technical Reference 76 (TR 76), the national standard for e-commerce transactions, to include additional anti-scam guidelines for e-retailers and e-commerce marketplaces, to offer better protection for consumers transacting online. SIRS has incorporated the key anti-scam updates and revisions made to TR 76 guidelines in our one-day workshop.
The revised TR 76 was prepared by the Working Group (WG) on TR 76 Amendment set up by the Technical Committee on Retail Services. The standard falls under the purview of the Services Standards Committee.
The Amendment was initiated by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to combat a sharp increase in the number of e-commerce scams from 2019 to 2020. It was developed in consultation with 17 e-commerce stakeholders including major e-marketplaces Amazon, Carousell, Facebook, Lazada and Shopee. The amendments were discussed extensively over 6 months before the WG reached full consensus in February 2022.
This amendment introduces scam prevention measures that e-retailers and e-marketplaces should implement to protect consumers against e-commerce scams. This amendment includes guidance to:
- ensure merchant authenticity through greater due diligence by the e-marketplaces;
- maintain transaction records and improve transaction security (e.g. with the use of escrow payments); and
- improve the e-commerce scam victims’ loss remediation experience by encouraging the e-marketplaces and e-retailers to implement a dispute resolution mechanism.
