Since January 2007 it has been compulsory for certain business information to be present on corporate websites and emails or other electronic communications, including invoices and order forms.
The regulations apply to all limited companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) and are designed to ensure compliance with EU regulations relating to company law.
The information required includes:
• the registered name of the company or LLP and any trading name;
• the registered number of the company or LLP and its place of registration; and
• the address of the registered office.
Recently, an EU decision has led to more information seemingly being required. The European E-Commerce Directive requires firms to make the following permanently available on their websites:
• The name of the service provider;
• The address of the service provider’s establishment; and
• Details, including the email address, which allow the service provider to be contacted rapidly and communicated with in a direct and effective manner.
It may be thought that the requirement to allow direct and effective communication just means that any communications sent using a web-based response form must be answered within a reasonable period of time. However, the ECJ has made it clear that such a facility must be in addition to an email address, which in effect appears to make a phone number or fax number essential. This is because whilst the objective of having an effective means of communication may be served in normal circumstances via email, the ECJ envisages cases in which the consumer may not have access to email.
The rules apply to most commercial websites and clearly are more demanding than previously thought.
For further information, see the Companies (Registrar, Languages and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2006.
In addition, you must comply with the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.