E-Commerce Law in Turkey

With its young, digitally minded population, Turkey is one of the most dynamic e-commerce markets in Europe. The legal framework is the Law on the Regulation of Electronic Commerce No. 6563, fundamentally expanded by the major reform of 2022 – in force since 2023 – which subjects electronic marketplaces in particular to strict, size-dependent regulation. Added to this are consumer protection law with the rules on distance contracts, the registration obligations (ETBİS), the advertising and messaging rules (İYS) and data protection. This article provides foreign sellers and platforms with an overview.

Table of contents

• Which bodies of rules govern e-commerce in Turkey?
• Who is a service provider and who an intermediary service provider?
• Which information and registration duties apply (ETBİS)?
• What did the 2022 marketplace reform bring?
• Which rules apply to commercial electronic messages (İYS)?
• Which consumer rights apply to distance sales?
• When are platforms liable for infringing content and products?
• What is the tax framework for online trade?
• What must foreign sellers bear in mind?
• What are the most common mistakes in practice?
• What does e-commerce compliance look like in practice? A case from our advisory work
• Conclusion

Which bodies of rules govern e-commerce in Turkey?

The core is Law No. 6563 with its regulations, governing information duties, electronic contract formation, commercial messages and the obligations of the platform economy. Alongside it apply the Consumer Protection Law No. 6502 with the Distance Contracts Regulation, the KVKK for data processing, tax law with special rules for digital services, and sector-specific rules for foodstuffs, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, for example. Whoever addresses the Turkish market online must think these layers together – regulation is predominantly triggered by targeting Turkish customers, not by the seller's place of establishment.

Who is a service provider and who an intermediary service provider?

The law distinguishes the service provider ("hizmet sağlayıcı"), which offers its own goods or services electronically, from the intermediary service provider ("aracı hizmet sağlayıcı"), which provides the electronic commerce environment for third-party offers – that is, marketplaces and platforms. For electronic commerce in the narrower sense, the 2022 reform additionally uses the concepts of the electronic commerce service provider (ETHS) and the electronic commerce intermediary service provider (ETAHS). Different sets of obligations attach to these roles; hybrid models – platforms with their own retail operations – are subject to both regimes and to additional special restrictions.

Which information and registration duties apply (ETBİS)?

Before contract formation, service providers must make comprehensive information available – identity and contact details, the technical steps of contract formation, storage and accessibility of the contract text, correction options and codes of conduct – and confirm the order electronically without delay. In addition, there is the duty to register in the Electronic Commerce Information System (ETBİS) at the Ministry of Trade, through which certain notifications – on turnover and payment methods, for example – are also made. Breaches of information and registration duties carry fines; ETBİS registration is moreover a de facto precondition of a proper market presence.

What did the 2022 marketplace reform bring?

The reform created a graduated system of obligations for e-commerce intermediary service providers keyed to gross transaction volume, with thresholds adjusted annually. Its central elements include:

• A prohibition on offering own-brand products for sale on one's own marketplace – the separation of platform and retail interests
• Duties of fair contract terms towards merchants: restrictions on unilateral changes, transparency of rankings and commissions, prohibition of disproportionate contractual penalties
• Data portability and restrictions on the use of merchant data for the platform's own competitive purposes
• Advertising and discount budget caps for large platforms as well as restrictions on payment, logistics and advertising services
• A licence requirement for large and very large platforms: above certain volume and transaction thresholds, an e-commerce licence is required, its fee assessed progressively on volume – an internationally noted steering instrument

Parts of the reform were subject to constitutional review, but its basic structure is in force. For foreign platforms with Turkish business, the annual review of the thresholds and the licence obligation is thus part of the compliance routine.

Which rules apply to commercial electronic messages (İYS)?

Commercial electronic messages – e-mail, SMS, automated calls – may in principle be sent only with the recipient's prior consent; relaxations apply to messages to merchants and tradespeople. Consents and refusals are managed via the central state message management system ("İleti Yönetim Sistemi" – İYS), in which sending companies must register and deposit their consents; every message must contain a simple, free-of-charge opt-out. Breaches are fined per message and can multiply in bulk sending – İYS management is therefore a mandatory part of any Turkish CRM setup.

Which consumer rights apply to distance sales?

For contracts with consumers, the Distance Contracts Regulation under the Consumer Protection Law applies: the consumer must be comprehensively informed before contract formation and has a withdrawal right of 14 days without giving reasons; if the required notice is omitted, the period is extended considerably. Exceptions exist, among others, for perishable goods, personalised products and unsealed hygiene items. The reform has also strengthened the platforms' duties vis-à-vis consumers: the intermediary service provider is liable for compliance with the information duties and is involved in processing withdrawal and refunds. Delivery periods, warranty rights and the jurisdiction of the consumer arbitration committees and consumer courts for disputes come on top.

When are platforms liable for infringing content and products?

Intermediary service providers are not obliged to monitor third-party content generally. However, they must act upon knowledge of infringing content: for infringements of industrial property rights, the law provides a formal notice-and-takedown procedure in which the platform removes the offer upon a substantiated notification by the right holder and informs the merchant; the merchant has a counter-notice mechanism against unjustified notifications. Product safety cooperation duties exist in addition. For trademark owners, this procedure is the first and fastest instrument against counterfeit offers; for platforms, a documented notice-and-takedown process is mandatory.

What is the tax framework for online trade?

The tax framework must be reviewed separately and is often decisive for the choice of business model: foreign providers of electronic services to consumers in Turkey are subject to a special VAT registration without any establishment requirement; on revenues from digital advertising, content and intermediation, Turkey additionally levies a digital services tax of 7.5 percent above the statutory turnover thresholds. For cross-border sales of goods, the customs and tax exemption limits for small consignments – recently reduced considerably – and import duties must be factored in, which have made the direct-shipping model from abroad more expensive; many sellers therefore switch to local warehousing or fulfilment partners, which in turn raises permanent establishment questions for income tax. Electronic invoicing (e-Fatura/e-Arşiv) and the reporting duties via ETBİS round off the picture.

What must foreign sellers bear in mind?

• Check market targeting: Turkish-language shops, deliveries to Turkey and Turkish payment methods regularly trigger the application of the Turkish regime.
• Localise ETBİS registration, imprint and information duties; adapt general terms and conditions to Turkish consumer law.
• Set up İYS registration and consent management before the first newsletter.
• Ensure KVKK compliance, including the international transfer of customer data.
• Review tax obligations: digital services tax, VAT registration for electronic services to consumers, and customs and import rules for cross-border small consignments.
• For platform models, check the marketplace regulation thresholds and the licence obligation annually.

What are the most common mistakes in practice?

• The Turkish shop goes live without ETBİS registration and localised mandatory information – fines strike the visible formalities first.
• Newsletters are sent without İYS registration and documented consents; fines multiply per message.
• The withdrawal notice is copied from the EU – periods, exceptions and model forms do not match the Turkish regulation.
• The general terms govern forum and choice of law but ignore the mandatory jurisdiction of the Turkish consumer arbitration committees.
• The platform model grows past the volume thresholds without the licence obligation and the stricter duties being noticed.
• Customer data flows into the foreign group CRM without a KVKK-compliant transfer basis.

What does e-commerce compliance look like in practice? A case from our advisory work

A case from our advisory practice: our client, a German online marketplace for home textiles and kitchenware, had localised its existing website into Turkish, integrated Turkish payment methods and entered the market; its net transaction volume grew rapidly. When it retained us, two questions were on the table: (1) Is it permissible to host third-party sellers on its own platform while also selling its own branded products? (2) Will the growing volume make an e-commerce licence necessary? Our review found that the client, as an electronic commerce intermediary (ETAHS), is subject to the graduated regime of Supplementary Article 2 of Law No. 6563 – and that the law directly prohibits the sale of own-brand products on the same platform, so that the existing hybrid model (marketplace plus own sales) violated this separation. We therefore recommended selling its own products under a separate domain and in a separate legal entity.

Threshold calculation and licence obligation: The law classifies providers exceeding, in one calendar year, a net transaction volume of TRY 30 billion (the statutory base threshold; the applicable amounts are indexed annually on the basis of ETBİS data – most recently raised by 48.07% on 27 February 2026) and (as ETAHS) 100,000 transactions as "large/very large"; above this threshold, caps on advertising and discount budgets, restrictions on the use of merchant data for the platform's own competition and – in force since 1 January 2025 – the e-commerce licence obligation apply, with the licence fee calculated progressively on net transaction volume. Our client's volume was still below the threshold; given its growth rate, however, we forecast that it would be exceeded in the following calendar year and advised preparing the licence application in advance – and, because the thresholds are recalculated annually from ETBİS data, establishing an annual monitoring routine.

Consumer dimension and outcome: While the project was ongoing, a consumer raised a claim of TRY 95,000 over a defect in a product bought via the platform. Our client's general terms provided for the jurisdiction of the Istanbul courts – but because the amount was below the current monetary limit of the consumer arbitration committees (TRY 186,000 for 2026), the consumer could apply directly to the arbitration committee; the forum clause in the general terms cannot displace this mandatory procedure, as we made clear – a contrary defence would only have cost time and money. Taken together, the three issues show: for a growing foreign e-commerce business in Turkey, the real risk lies not in a single major violation but in the fact that ETAHS/ETHS classification, volume thresholds and consumer procedural rules form an interconnected compliance system whose elements must be monitored individually but continuously.

Conclusion

With the 2022 reform, Turkish e-commerce law has evolved from an information-duties statute into comprehensive platform regulation whose depth of intervention – own-brand prohibition, advertising budget caps, volume-based licensing – has few international parallels. For sellers the market remains attractive and accessible, but demands clean implementation of ETBİS, İYS, consumer and data protection duties.

Foreign sellers should set up their Turkish presence as a distinct compliance project – from the localisation of legal texts through consent management to the annual threshold check for platform models – and continuously monitor the Ministry of Trade's dynamic practice of secondary legislation.

The IP/IT team at GEMS Schindhelm advises sellers, platforms and investors on legally secure entry into Turkish e-commerce – from ETBİS and İYS compliance through general terms and consumer law to marketplace regulation and the licence obligation.