This guide is for retail brands, wholesalers, specialty stores and founders in Nepal who sell — or plan to sell — goods or services through a website, mobile app or social commerce platform. It explains the practical engineering and disclosure requirements introduced by Nepal’s Electronic Commerce Act, 2081 (विद्युतीय व्यापार ऐन, २०८१) and how to design an online store that stays compliant, builds customer trust and handles delivery and payments cleanly.
Nepali edition: नेपालमा ई-कमर्स वेबसाइट र अनलाइन व्यापार नियमहरूको गाइड
Why Nepal’s E-Commerce Act 2081 matters for your website design
Until recently, many online businesses in Nepal operated informally through Instagram DMs, Facebook pages or basic websites that showed product photos without listing a registered company name, PAN/VAT number, physical address or return policy.
The Electronic Commerce Act, 2081 (2025) — administered alongside the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection (DoCSI) — sets legal rules for anyone conducting electronic commerce in Nepal. Crucially, many of those rules are website and software requirements: they dictate what information must be visible on your pages, how orders are confirmed, and how customer complaints and returns are handled.
1. Platform listing and business identity disclosure
Under the Act, an e-commerce business must be a legally registered entity in Nepal and must list its electronic platform (website or app) on the electronic commerce portal designated by the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection (docsi.gov.np).
Your website or app must visibly display:
- Registered business name and address
- Registration number and registering authority (Office of the Company Registrar, Department of Commerce, or local cottage/ward registration)
- PAN or VAT number
- Direct contact details: email, phone number and a designated grievance officer / customer support contact (गुनासो सुन्ने अधिकारी वा सम्पर्क व्यक्ति)
- Portal listing details once issued by the Department
Putting these details clearly in your website footer, Contact page and About page satisfies both legal transparency and Google’s E-E-A-T (trustworthiness) signals for online stores.
2. What every product or service page must show
Product pages cannot hide fees until after the customer pays. Before a buyer clicks “Place Order”, your product template and checkout page must clearly state:
| Information | What your website should display |
|---|---|
| Final price and taxes | Unit price in NPR, whether VAT or other charges are included, and exact delivery fee before checkout confirmation |
| Product specifications | Honest description, brand/origin, size/weight, warranty or guarantee terms, and expiry date where applicable |
| Stock and delivery timeline | Whether the item is in stock and estimated delivery window (for example, inside Pokhara/Kathmandu valley vs outside valley) |
| Payment options | Supported methods (Cash on Delivery, Fonepay QR, eSewa, Khalti, ConnectIPS or card) |
| Return, refund and cancellation rules | When a customer can cancel an order or return a defective or mismatched item, and how refunds are processed |
3. Order confirmation, invoicing and contract formation
From a software engineering perspective, the checkout flow must create a clear, auditable record:
- Explicit order review step: the customer sees the itemised cart, shipping address, delivery charge and total payable amount before confirming.
- Timestamped order confirmation: as soon as the order is placed, the system sends an automated order confirmation (by email or SMS) with a unique order ID and summary.
- Cancel-before-dispatch logic: if the customer cancels an order before the item has been dispatched (under the conditions allowed by the Act), your order management dashboard should support clean cancellation and refund tracking without manual spreadsheet hacks.
- Tax invoice / bill delivery: every delivered order must be accompanied by a proper bill or electronic invoice matching the price paid.
4. Direct store vs marketplace software requirements
The Act distinguishes between a direct seller (selling your own inventory on your own website) and an intermediary / marketplace platform (where third-party vendors list their goods):
- If you sell only your own products: you need a fast, secure e-commerce website with clean inventory management, local payment gateway integration and domestic courier tracking.
- If you run a multi-vendor marketplace: your platform must also maintain written or digital agreements with each seller, verify seller PAN/registration details, display seller identity on product listings, and keep separate settlement ledgers for vendor payouts.
5. Connecting payments and domestic logistics in Nepal
Most successful online stores in Nepal combine digital wallets/QR with Cash on Delivery (COD), because many first-time buyers still prefer paying at the door.
To keep COD return rates low and reconciliation clean:
- Verify phone numbers and landmarks at checkout (in Nepal, a clear landmark field alongside Ward/Municipality saves courier riders hours of phone calls).
- Integrate with domestic couriers (such as Nepal Can Move, Pathao Parcel, Aramex/Daraz logistics partners or local city riders) so tracking statuses (
Confirmed,Dispatched,Out for Delivery,Delivered,Returned) update inside your admin panel. - Separate COD cash collection from wallet settlements in your daily accounting reports so you always know how much cash your courier partner is holding on your behalf.
Checklist for launching or auditing an online store in Nepal
- Registered business name, PAN/VAT number, physical address and customer support / grievance contact are visible on the website.
- Platform listing requirements on the DoCSI electronic commerce portal (
docsi.gov.np) have been completed or scheduled with your legal/accounting advisor. - Every product page shows the true price, stock status, warranty/return terms and delivery fee before final checkout.
- Written Privacy Policy, Terms of Sale, Return & Refund Policy, and Shipping Policy pages are published at permanent URLs.
- Online payments (eSewa, Khalti, Fonepay, ConnectIPS) verify payment status server-side before marking an order as paid.
- Customer data is served over HTTPS with role-based staff access and automated daily database backups.
Building an online store or multi-branch ordering system?
We design and engineer custom e-commerce websites, order management web apps and payment & courier integrations for businesses in Nepal. Get in touch to discuss your store.
Sources
- Law Commission of Nepal: Electronic Commerce Act, 2081 (विद्युतीय व्यापार ऐन, २०८१), https://lawcommission.gov.np/
- Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection (DoCSI), Government of Nepal: Official portal and e-commerce listing notices, https://docsi.gov.np/
- Law Commission of Nepal: Consumer Protection Act, 2075 (उपभोक्ता संरक्षण ऐन, २०७५), https://lawcommission.gov.np/
- Nepal Rastra Bank: Licensed Payment Service Providers and Payment System Operators, https://www.nrb.org.np/