The Republic of Srpska Law on Trade recognises electronic trade as a type of remote sale. In accordance with provisions of this law, the remote sale is a retail trade, as well as provision of services to consumer organised by the trader using communication means used between persons who are physically distant from each other.

Remote trade can be organised only by a trader registered for such type of business. In order to perform remote sale, the trader must provide an office for administrative work, suitable warehouse for the goods being sold as well as a suitable sanitary facility.

The contract on the remote sale of goods is made between the trader and the consumers through remote communication means, in accordance with provisions of this law and the law regulating consumer protection. A remote sale contract must contain the price and other conditions of sale.

Electronic trade is a type of remote sale realised in the manner that the goods, i.e. services, are offered, ordered and sold through the Internet, and it is conducted as:

1) sale of goods or services through an electronic store (the basic form of electronic trade),

2) sale of goods or services through an electronic platform connecting traders and consumers (sale through an e-commerce platform),

3) sale of goods through an electronic shop or through an electronic platform, while the goods are delivered to the consumers directly from the manufacturer or a wholesale trader,

4) sale of goods or service through social networks.

Other remote trade is performed through other means of mass communication, such as catalogue sale, radio and TV sale (teleshopping), trade through mail, printed shipments, advertising materials with an order form, telephone, mobile phone text or multimedia messages and audiotext machines.

When it comes to trade through the Internet, we must differentiate between business that are registered for remote sale, as well as businesses which, along with sale in their premisses, offer the consumers also the possibility to purchase goods through webpages, and natural persons who illegally offer goods and services through social networks.

Considering how easy is to open profiles on social networks, individuals started to misuse them for unregistered operations. As a rule, profiles illegally offering products on social networks do not contain any data on responsible persons, office address, registration number at the Tax Administration because they are not registered, neither the name of the person who created the profile.

With such purchases the citizens expose themselves to high consumer risk. In such circumstances, the origin, soundness and quality of a product or service are questionable, and in cases of damages to health or property the consumers do not have a receipt as material evidence of purchase from a particular person. Most commonly such profiles on social networks have general names.

Also, the consumers should bear in mind that if they purchase product on the Internet, i.e. social networks, the person behind a profile does not necessarily need to be a resident of the Republic of Srpska or Bosnia and Herzegovina, which additionally makes identifying them more difficult.

If citizens decide to make purchases on the Internet, it is recommended that they chose verified and renowned intermediaries, who have consumer protections policies in place. If they decide to do so, the consumers first of all need to check whether all information on the trader and the product is publicly displayed. A trader is obliged to publish complete information relating to:

•           name and address

•           a product or service offered, and their names

•           main characteristics of a product or service

•           total price of a product or service including the VAT

•           delivery cost

•           payment options

•           manner and deadline for delivery of a product or completion of service

Proving illegal work through social networks involves a series of operational steps in collecting evidence before conducting an inspection. With emerging technologies tools used by inspectors also change.

For the very reason to provide necessary tools to collect evidence on unregistered work, the Law on Inspection enabled inspectors to introduce themselves as users of services or buyers of goods.  Also, the Law on Entrepreneurs defines that the posts and advertisements of products or services on social media, public media and other electronic or written media can point out the unregistered work of natural persons.

Inspections are organised as regular controls in accordance with the annual work plan, as well as irregular controls based on petitions from citizens, information sent by other authorities, as well as information inspectors acquire in the field or direct examination of advertisement pages and social networks.

Last year, inspectors conducted over 300 targeted controls of natural persons who advertised various products and services. In 172 cases inspectors issued a ban of business operations without a registration, and issued penalties in the total amount of BAM 335,000.

Inspections were continued this year as well, but due to the current circumstances, the focus of inspectors’ work is more on formation of prices. This year the total of 109 inspections were conducted of persons advertising the sale of different products and services, and in 31 cases it was determined that those persons were conducting unregistered business operations. They were issued a ban on business operations, and penalties in the total amount of BAM 78,000.

Unregistered work was found in different activities such as: hairdressers and beauticians, sale of clothes, shoes, technical equipment, manufacturing of furniture, carpentry and concrete wares, accommodation rentals, repairs and maintenance of motor vehicles, photography services, etc.

Inspection authorities will continue to take all available measures in order to combat unregistered business operation, which represents unfair competition to businesses that operate legally and pay their obligations towards workers and the state. However, an important role in combating illegal work is with the local community, i.e. the citizens, who need to avoid hiring unregistered persons, to get acquainted with the person being hired for services, which is very important from the aspect of protecting their rights. Along with institutional combat against grey economy, the determination of the society to boycott person working illegally is just as important.

The aim of the inspection services is registration and legalization of businesses, i.e. introducing their business into legal framework, so we are asking natural persons who perform unregistered business not to wait for the arrival of inspectors, but to start the registration procedure independently.

Illegal work has a negative influence on the whole society’s economy, because it primarily harms the budget, and consequently the whole society, because budgetary funds are used for financing healthcare, schools, infrastructure, investments into economy and other, which in the end influences the living standard of our citizens.