Source: nidaa el watan

In a country where job opportunities are steadily shrinking and incomes have fallen to unprecedented levels, turning to online commerce has become less a choice than a direct response to economic collapse. Thousands of Lebanese have found in Facebook and Instagram pages an open space to sell products or services, searching for an additional, or often the only, source of income in the absence of any social safety net or official support. Behind every sales page on social media lies a story of financial strain and an attempt to survive.

The issue is not the intentions of those working online, but rather the absence of a legal framework to regulate this activity and ensure market fairness. Without such regulation, online commerce has gradually shifted from a legitimate livelihood solution into a parallel market that deepens economic distortions and undermines fair competition.

A parallel market

Commerce through social media is no longer marginal or temporary. It has become an undeclared sector growing at a rapid pace. From clothing and shoes to cosmetics, homemade food, and accessories, thousands of pages sell daily without commercial registration, invoices, or any tax or regulatory obligations.

Economically, this expansion is driven by the low cost of entry compared to traditional retail. There are no rents, no high utility bills, and no licenses. A smartphone and a delivery service are enough to start selling. But this very ease creates a dangerous imbalance in the market structure.

Consumers between necessity and risk

For consumers, financial pressure is the decisive factor. Nadia, a public sector employee, says: “I buy online because prices are much lower, not because I trust it. Sometimes I get scammed, but other times I save money.”

Ali, a father of a family, adds: “There’s no guarantee and no invoice. If the product is bad or fake, you can’t complain. But income is no longer enough.”

These testimonies reflect a harsh reality in which consumers are forced to take risks in an unregulated market due to declining purchasing power.

As online commerce grows outside regulatory frameworks, problems related to consumer protection have intensified, with cases of fraud driven by a lack of transparency and unequal access to information.

In this context, Mohammad Abou Haidar, Director General of the Ministry of Economy and Trade, affirmed that “since the COVID-19 pandemic, Lebanon has seen a notable rise in online purchasing, which has led to an increase in complaints from citizens regarding this type of commerce.” Available data, he said, show that these complaints fall mainly into two categories.

The first relates to discrepancies between advertised products and what consumers actually receive. Products are often presented online through images and descriptions that differ from the delivered item, undermining transparency and trust in the digital market.

The second category concerns unclear pricing and billing. In many cases, full details of the final cost are not disclosed, whether taxes are included or whether delivery fees apply, leading to price differences upon delivery and leaving consumers facing unexpected obligations.

Abou Haidar noted that complaints have increased at a time when the scale of violations exceeds traditional monitoring capacities, especially as some offending pages shut down and reappear under new names, making continuous oversight difficult.

He added that the Internal Security Forces, particularly the Cybercrime and Intellectual Property Protection Office, are making significant efforts in this file after cases are referred by the Ministry of Economy.

As for complaints within the remit of regulatory authorities, Abou Haidar explained that page owners are summoned and violations are addressed directly. If no resolution is reached, formal reports are issued to secure consumer rights, and cases exceeding administrative authority are referred to the Internal Security Forces for legal follow-up.

Unfair competition

Meanwhile, brick-and-mortar businesses are paying the highest price. A clothing store owner in Mar Elias said: “We comply with everything, rent, taxes, municipal fees, electricity, social security. How can we compete with a page selling from home with no obligations?”

Another merchant in Hamra added: “We’re not against people working, but why is the compliant punished and the violator rewarded? This isn’t free trade; it’s chaos. That’s why many shops have closed, they couldn’t absorb the losses.”

This unequal competition accelerates the closure of small and medium-sized enterprises, increases unemployment, and weakens the formal economic cycle.

An absent state, mounting losses

Most concerning is that this activity takes place in the near-total absence of any legal or regulatory framework. There is no mandatory registration, no simplified tax system, and no effective oversight. This opens the door to widespread tax evasion and losses estimated at millions of dollars annually, at a time when the state treasury is suffering from chronic deficits.

Regarding the scale of tax losses, the absence of mandatory registration and tax oversight keeps online commerce outside official statistics, creating an information gap that prevents accurate calculation of losses and limits the state’s ability to design data-driven fiscal policies.

As a result, e-commerce shifts from being a potential opportunity to organize the digital economy into yet another factor draining public finances and undermining what remains of the formal economy.

The solution is not a ban

The solution, however, does not lie in banning individual initiatives, but in establishing clear legislation to regulate digital commerce.

Bassem Al-Bawwab, head of the Lebanese Companies Association, confirmed that “the online commerce and fast-delivery sector is growing rapidly worldwide and has become an integral part of consumer behavior, including in Lebanon.” Delivery times of eight to ten minutes, he noted, are no longer limited to food but now extend to clothing, accessories, and consumer goods, often outperforming traditional shopping in convenience.

He stressed that this rapid shift places online commerce at the heart of modern economic activity and calls for clear legal and regulatory frameworks to ensure sustainability and safety, through:

Monitoring and enforcement: All platforms and online pages must be monitored to ensure fair practices and prevent fraud, counterfeiting, and the circulation of fake brands, protecting consumers and ensuring a stable, fair commercial environment.

A legal framework: Specific legislation is needed to regulate online sales, define the rights and obligations of all parties, and establish mechanisms to resolve disputes related to fraud or counterfeit goods.

Fair taxation: E-commerce must be subject to an organized tax system equivalent to that applied to traditional commerce, ensuring competitive fairness and preventing economic distortions caused by lack of regulation.

The right to work and the need for regulation

Ultimately, online commerce cannot be approached through prohibition or repression, nor can it continue to be ignored. The real challenge lies in regulating the sector in a way that preserves the right to work, ensures fair competition, protects consumers, and reintegrates this activity into the formal economic cycle.

In a country that can no longer withstand further disorder, the question remains open: will the state assume its responsibility and regulate this reality, or will it allow the market to deteriorate further at everyone’s expense?