Vietnam's Competition Regulator Intervenes, Shopee Delays New Fee Policy

Ebrun Exclusive, June 1st: The Southeast Asian e-commerce platform Shopee has encountered regulatory resistance in Vietnam regarding a new fee plan. Following concerns raised by Vietnam's competition regulator about the potential impact of the policy on sellers and market competition, Shopee has decided to postpone its planned fee adjustments.

The National Competition Commission (NCC) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade recently disclosed that it has received multiple complaints since May this year concerning fee adjustments and new fee items introduced by e-commerce platforms. The agency noted that such fee changes could increase merchants' operating costs, which could then be passed on to product prices and affect the competitive landscape of the market.

The focus of regulatory concern is Shopee's previously proposed 'Visibility Maintenance Program.'

Under this program, the platform would automatically deduct a certain percentage from the revenue of sellers' completed orders and transfer it to the sellers' advertising accounts to maintain promotional visibility for their products on the platform. The standard deduction rate is 1% of the non-tax sales revenue, with sellers allowed to adjust the rate themselves between 1% and 50%.

This amount would be deducted before the sales proceeds are transferred to the merchants. The policy was originally scheduled to take effect on May 29th, 2026.

To clarify the situation, the NCC held a dedicated meeting with seller groups operating on platforms like Shopee and TikTok Shop to gather information on the practical difficulties they faced in May due to increases in fixed fees, adjustments to transaction processing fees, and the introduction of new service fees.

Simultaneously, the Commission requested several digital retail intermediary platforms, including Shopee, to provide relevant information and supporting documents. It also engaged in direct discussions to comprehensively assess the basis, rationale, implementation methods of the new fee policies, and their potential impact on the seller community and market competition.

After review, the NCC explicitly requested Shopee to re-evaluate the basis of the program and its impact on sellers. On May 27th, Shopee reported to the regulator that it would postpone the implementation of this new fee policy and planned to formally notify sellers the following day, May 28th.

The NCC stated that it will continue to monitor various existing fee items on e-commerce platforms, including fixed fees, transaction processing fees, infrastructure fees, and other service fees.

The regulatory body has also instructed Shopee, TikTok Shop, and related companies to provide complete information to ensure the transparency and reasonableness of the fee mechanism while minimizing the negative impact on merchants' normal business operations.

The NCC emphasized that when digital retail intermediary platforms adjust their policies, they must ensure they do not impose unreasonable burdens on sellers, distort market competition, or harm consumer interests.

Industry analysts believe that the issue of fees on Vietnamese e-commerce platforms has escalated beyond private complaints from sellers to a formal investigation by the competent authority. The regulator's request for platforms to provide complete information may signal that fee transparency will become a key focus of the next phase of e-commerce regulation in Vietnam.

For companies engaged in cross-border e-commerce or selling through local Vietnamese platforms, how commissions are calculated, when they are deducted, and whether clear reconciliation is possible will directly affect their pricing strategies and cash flow management.

Relevant companies can start by downloading and archiving every deduction record from the platform's backend, cross-checking them one by one with internal ERP or manual payment records. If regulators push for greater fee transparency in the future, sellers holding complete records will have a basis for negotiation, rather than relying on vague perceptions.

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