SG updates e-commerce guidelines to boost trust, curb scams

It allows merchants to sell on multiple platforms to keep competition fair.

Singapore has strengthened its Technical Reference 76 (TR 76) guidelines for e-commerce to tackle fake reviews, unfair marketplace practices, and online scams.

The enhanced standards aim to build consumer trust, promote fair competition, and protect shoppers as the country’s e-commerce market grows.

The update was led by Enterprise Singapore through the Singapore Standards Council, with input from major platforms such as Shopee, Lazada and FairPrice, the Consumers Association of Singapore, the Singapore Retailers Association, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCS), and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Singapore’s e-commerce revenue hit $393.9b in 2023, making stronger safeguards urgent as more merchants and consumers move online.

The updated TR 76 guidelines require e-commerce platforms to present product information, promotions, and terms clearly, prevent fake reviews, and avoid misleading designs such as subscription traps.

Marketplaces must treat merchants fairly by setting reasonable listing conditions, allowing them to sell on multiple platforms, and avoiding preferential treatment of their own products.

They are also urged to provide transparent dealings and effective dispute resolution.

Platforms using automated tools or artificial intelligence must ensure these systems operate transparently, fairly, and in compliance with competition, privacy, and cybersecurity rules.

To fight scams, the guidelines call for stricter merchant verification, quick suspension of suspicious accounts, 24-hour responses to regulatory requests, and proper record-keeping to support investigations and trace fraudulent transactions.

Enterprise Singapore’s Choy Sauw Kook said the changes will help e-commerce players “build consumer trust and compete fairly.”

CCS Chief Executive Alvin Koh noted the guidelines now cover “the entire consumer journey, from pre- to post-purchase.”

Loh Yuh Yiing, director of policy development and security at MHA, noted that e-commerce scams have more than halved, dropping from about 7,200 cases in the first half of 2024 to 3,200 cases in the same period of 2025, crediting close collaboration between government and industry.