Returns and refunds in Saudi e-commerce: policy, credit notes and complaints

The return policy Saudi e-commerce stores publish is a legal disclosure, not a marketing page. The E-Commerce Law, approved by Royal Decree M/126 dated 7/11/1440H, and its Implementing Regulations set out what you must tell a buyer before the sale, what they may cancel afterwards, and what your invoice must say when money goes back.

Returns peak in the weeks after a large sale season, and that is when a vague policy costs money. Staff improvise, refunds leave the bank without a matching credit note, and unhappy buyers file a report with the Ministry of Commerce instead of arguing with your team. This guide covers the rules, the paperwork and the workflow in the order a real order travels.

What the law makes you publish on your store

Article 6 of the E-Commerce Law requires a service provider to disclose, in the e-shop, their name or an identifying statement and their address, unless they are registered with an e-shop authentication entity, their contact information, and the name and number of the register they are listed in if that register is publicly available. Article 6 of the Implementing Regulations adds three more items: the privacy policy, the tax number if there is one, and the procedures and methods used to receive and resolve consumer complaints.

A page that only says "contact us" is not a procedure. Name the channel, say who answers, and state how long a first reply takes. The Regulations also require a link to all of this inside the store, and an explanation of any later change.

Article 7 of the Law, expanded by Article 7 of the Regulations, then requires a statement of the contract terms before the buyer pays. That statement must reference the right to rescind under Article 13(1) of the Law where rescission is allowed, the costs the buyer carries when exercising it, and the steps the buyer should take. Where the right does not apply, the statement has to say that too, and point at the reason.

The seven day cancellation right

Article 13(1) lets a consumer rescind the contract within the seven days following the date they receive the product, or the date of the service contract, provided they have not used the product, received the service or taken a benefit from either one. In that case the consumer bears the cost of rescinding unless the contract says otherwise. Your policy can be more generous than this. It cannot be less.

Article 13(2) of the Law and Article 11 of the Regulations list the cases where the buyer has no right to rescind. Check which of your SKUs fall inside.

Article 11 of the Regulations opens with the words "unless otherwise agreed", so you may still accept these returns as a commercial choice. Just do not present that choice as a legal right, and apply it consistently.

Late delivery is a separate right to a refund

Buyers mix up two different rights. Article 14(1) of the Law says that unless the two sides agree on another date for delivery or execution, the consumer may rescind the contract if you delay delivery or execution by more than 15 days from the date of concluding the contract or from the agreed date, and may demand a refund of amounts paid under the contract plus any other costs caused by the delay, unless the delay is due to force majeure.

Article 14(2) adds a duty that is easy to automate: notify the buyer of any expected delay or circumstance that may affect delivery. An honest delay message sent on day three prevents most of the refund demands that arrive on day twenty.

What your invoice has to show about returns

Article 8 of the Law requires an itemised invoice after the contract is concluded, showing the cost of each product or service, the total price including all charges and taxes and delivery amounts, and the date and place of delivery. Article 8 of the Regulations spells out the fields of that saveable invoice, and one of them is specifically about returns: a summary of the replacement and return provisions in the cases where they are permitted.

The full list is worth checking against your invoice template:

• your name, or your trade name if you are a registered merchant, and a description of the product or service;
• confirmation that the contract was concluded, and its date;
• the total price and the value of taxes, with details of how the price is calculated;
• shipping, transport and delivery charges, if any;
• your tax number, if you have one;
• the delivery date;
• the carrier's name and tracking data, if any;
• a summary of the replacement and return provisions where permitted;
• the payment method, and confirmation of full payment if made.

The credit note closes the loop in your books

A refund is not finished when the money leaves your account. ZATCA describes e-invoicing as the exchange and processing of invoices, credit notes and debit notes in a structured electronic format, so a return has to appear as a document. Never delete or edit the original tax invoice to undo a sale.

Issue a credit note that references the original invoice, reverses the lines that came back, and reverses the 15% VAT on those lines in proportion. A partial return produces a partial credit note. Our guide to ZATCA credit note and debit note rules covers the field level detail.

Two habits keep the VAT return clean. Raise the credit note in the same step as the physical inspection, so the warehouse decision and the accounting entry carry the same date. Record restocking or return shipping costs the buyer bears as their own line, rather than quietly reducing the credited amount.

A returns workflow that survives the sale season

Volume is what breaks returns handling, not difficulty. Write the path down once and let the busy weeks run on it.

1. Receive the request through one channel that creates a reference number.
2. Classify it in the first reply: cancellation inside the seven days, a defect, a wrong item, or a late delivery under Article 14. The class decides who pays the shipping.
3. Check eligibility against your published exception list, and quote the clause if you decline.
4. Collect and inspect, with a photo at intake so a later dispute has evidence.
5. Issue the credit note, release the refund to the original payment method, and close with a message stating the credited amount.
6. Review weekly by reason, because the same SKU returning every week is a listing problem, not a support problem.

Publish a target time for each step, because a promise as modest as a first reply within one working day gives the buyer a reason to wait rather than escalate.

When a return becomes a complaint

A return turns into a complaint the moment the buyer loses track of it. That is why the Regulations ask you to publish how complaints are received and resolved, and why the two queues should share one history. A complaint management system logs each case with a reference number and a named owner, groups cases by type such as billing or delivery, moves them from open to resolved, and shows the customer's past tickets, quotations and invoices on the same screen, in Arabic or English.

If the buyer is not satisfied, the next step is outside your store. The Ministry of Commerce runs an e-service for receiving commercial complaints, and the penalties in Article 18 of the Law are real: a warning, a fine of up to 1,000,000 riyals, suspension of the e-commerce activity, or blocking the e-shop. A dated, documented case file is the only useful answer when a report lands.

A short template for your returns page

Put it one click from the footer and from the checkout. Six headings are enough:

• Cancellation window: the seven days under Article 13(1), and anything longer you offer.
• What we cannot accept: your exception categories, in the buyer's words.
• Condition required: unused, with accessories and original packaging.
• Who pays shipping: split by reason, defect against change of mind.
• How we refund: original payment method, with a credit note against the invoice.
• How to reach us: the channel, the hours and the first reply time, which doubles as your complaints procedure.

Frequently asked questions

Does the law force me to accept returns for any reason?

Within the seven days of Article 13(1) the consumer may rescind without giving a reason, provided they have not used the product or taken a benefit from it, and the purchase is not in the exception lists above.

How many days do I have to pay the refund back?

The E-Commerce Law sets the buyer's cancellation window in Article 13 and the 15 day delivery delay rule in Article 14, but it does not fix a deadline for processing the refund itself. Publish your own, keep it short, and measure it, because an unstated timeline is what most complaints are actually about.

Can I charge a restocking or return shipping fee?

Article 13(1) says the consumer bears the costs of rescinding unless the parties agreed otherwise, and Article 7 of the Regulations requires those costs to be stated in the pre-contract terms. A fee disclosed before payment is defensible. A fee invented at refund time is not.

What about returns from an order placed on a marketplace?

Article 18 of the Regulations requires an intermediary platform to publish, clearly on the platform, its policy for handling complaints from service providers and consumers and its policy for settling disputes between them. Read those rules before you promise a buyer anything, because the platform's window and refund route may differ from the one on your own store.

Returns are a support process with an accounting tail. Daftarix keeps the ticket, the customer history and the invoice in one place, so the person approving a refund can see the original sale. Book a demo and we will walk through your returns flow. You can read the law and its Implementing Regulations on the Ministry of Commerce E-Commerce Law page, and the e-invoicing requirements on ZATCA's e-invoicing portal.