Civil Liability of Business Operators for Consumer Losses in Digital Transactions

Abstract

Digital transactions have transformed consumer–business relationships while creating increasingly complex risks concerning defective products, misleading information, transaction failures, and uncertainty over responsibility for consumer losses. This study aims to analyze the civil liability of business actors for consumer losses arising from digital transactions in Indonesia, particularly by examining the legal basis of liability, the distribution of responsibility between sellers and marketplace operators, and the legal remedies available to consumers. The study employs normative juridical research using statutory and conceptual approaches. Legal materials were collected through library research and analyzed qualitatively through systematic interpretation, comparison, and synthesis of relevant legal norms and scholarly literature. The findings indicate that civil liability in digital transactions derives from an integrated framework of contractual liability, unlawful acts, statutory consumer protection, and obligations arising from electronic commerce regulations. The analysis further demonstrates that marketplace operators cannot automatically be regarded as legally neutral intermediaries when their functions materially influence transaction security, information disclosure, payment mechanisms, verification, or consumer complaints. Liability should therefore be allocated functionally according to each actor’s legal duties, contractual commitments, conduct, causal contribution, and capacity to prevent or remedy losses. The study contributes a functional and relational framework for strengthening legal certainty and effective consumer redress in Indonesia’s evolving digital economy.