Can Apps Still Function Normally Without Ozon Operating License?

Can I Still Use Ozon Without Obtaining a Business License?

In the world of commerce, whether you're an individual entrepreneur or a large enterprise, a business license is an essential document for conducting legal operations. However, in practical operations, there may be some unexpected situations, such as merchants on the Ozon platform possibly facing the issue of not yet obtaining their business license but needing to continue operations urgently. In this case, can merchants continue to use the platform services? This article will analyze from legal, platform rules, and practical operation perspectives, and provide references for relevant practitioners based on related news and cases.

Firstly, from a legal standpoint, engaging in business activities without a business license is considered illegal. According to China's Company Law and the Interim Measures for the Investigation and Punishment of Unlicensed and Unregistered Operations, any entity or individual must legally obtain the corresponding licenses and business licenses before commencing operations. This means that even if merchants have registered on the Ozon platform and started selling products, if the business license has not been officially approved, their actions still carry certain legal risks. If discovered by relevant departments, they will need to immediately cease operations and may face fines or other administrative penalties.

However, as one of Russia's largest e-commerce platforms, the registration process for Ozon is relatively complex, especially for merchants from other countries, where the time to apply for a business license may exceed expectations. To address this issue, Ozon typically allows merchants to go online and start sales after submitting necessary documents, while requiring merchants to commit to completing all necessary procedures as soon as possible. Although this approach temporarily avoids legal risks, merchants still need to strictly comply with platform regulations, ensuring the authenticity and completeness of subsequent supplementary materials.

Secondly, from the perspective of platform rules, Ozon has very strict requirements for merchant qualification reviews. To protect consumer rights and maintain platform reputation, Ozon clearly stipulates that all merchants must hold valid business licenses and other relevant proof documents. Even if merchants pass the initial review and begin operations, they must closely monitor their qualification status and timely update and improve related information. If merchants fail to provide complete business licenses on time, the platform has the right to suspend or terminate their account permissions at any time. This not only negatively affects the merchant's reputation but may also result in lost orders and economic losses.

It is worth noting that in recent years, due to factors such as the pandemic, many countries and regions have encountered similar situations where a large number of merchants were unable to obtain business licenses in time due to long approval cycles. In response to this situation, some e-commerce platforms have adopted flexible handling methods, such as extending the transition period and simplifying some processes to support merchants through difficult times. However, these policies often have time-limited and regional restrictions, and merchants need to pay close attention to official notifications to avoid missing the best timing.

From a practical operational perspective, merchants can also consider the following suggestions first, plan the timeline in advance, reserving sufficient buffer space when submitting registration applications; second, actively communicate and coordinate with local departments to expedite the approval process; third, utilize the professional services of third-party agencies to improve efficiency; fourth, strengthen internal management to ensure daily operations comply with legal and regulatory requirements.

In summary, although it is still possible to continue using Ozon services during the registration period without obtaining a business license, this does not mean that compliance issues can be ignored. Merchants should always prioritize lawful operations, adhering to national laws and regulations as well as platform rules, to achieve long-term stable development. At the same time, faced with a complex market environment, merchants need to have keen insight and flexible adaptability to find optimal solutions in the face of challenges.