Face masks on sales at shopee.vn.

The ministry has kept a close watch on online sales and pricing to prevent sellers from hiking prices in order to profit from the pandemic. It has also updated both buyers and sellers on specific penalties and fines given for each violation.

Prominent e-commerce platforms like Chotot.com, Lazada.vn, Tiki.vn, Sendo.vn and Shopee.vn have been actively cooperating with the ministry to monitor sites in search of violators and warn online sellers against hiking prices of essential goods that may spark market uncertainty.

The platforms have improved availability and accessibility of essential goods on their sites to make online shopping much easier.

According to the ministry’s Vietnam eCommerce and Digital Economy Agency, nearly 16,200 online shops were sanctioned with around 32,880 items removed from e-commerce sites between March 23 and 30.

The largest violations were found on Shopee.vn where about 1,650 shops have been punished and 1,900 items, mainly face masks and hand sanitiser, removed.

The agency advised all e-commerce platforms to continue taking all necessary technical measures to prevent and remove violating items and strictly punish sellers who fail to comply with the rules in response to the COVID-19 relief efforts./.