Exoneration Clauses of E-commerce Platforms as a Form of Hidden Breach of Contract against Consumers in Indonesia

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-626-0_17How to use a DOI?

Keywords

exoneration clause; e-commerce platform; hidden breach of contract; consumer protection; digital civil law

Abstract

The rapid growth of e-commerce in Indonesia, with more than 221 million internet users and a projected growth rate of 30.5% in 2024, has intensified legal disputes between consumers and platform operators. A critical yet understudied phenomenon is the systematic incorporation of exoneration clauses into standard form contracts by major platforms such as Shopee, Tokopedia, Lazada, Blibli, and TikTok Shop, whereby platforms disclaim liability by positioning themselves merely as intermediaries. This normative legal research examines two issues: first, how exoneration clauses in e-commerce platform contracts may be legally construed as a form of hidden breach of contract under Indonesian civil law; and second, what legal protections are available to consumers against such clauses. Employing a statutory and conceptual approach, this study analyzes the Indonesian Civil Code (KUH Perdata), the Consumer Protection Law No. 8 of 1999 (UUPK), the Electronic Information and Transactions Law No. 1 of 2024 (UU ITE), and Government Regulation No. 80 of 2019 on Trade through Electronic Systems. The findings demonstrate that exoneration clauses violate Article 18 of the UUPK and constitute void agreements under Article 1320 in conjunction with Article 1337 of the Civil Code due to an unlawful causa, while simultaneously qualifying as a hidden breach of contract through the doctrines of anticipatory breach and misbruik van omstandigheden (abuse of circumstances). Consumer legal protection remains fragmented and inadequate, necessitating normative reconstruction through amendment of the UUPK and the strengthening of enforcement mechanisms.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Adinda Dwi Larasati
AU  - Dinda Delfina
AU  - Fadhila Putri Sakina
AU  - Raisha Hafandi
AU  - Muhamad Aditya Syah
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/29
TI  - Exoneration Clauses of E-commerce Platforms as a Form of Hidden Breach of Contract against Consumers in Indonesia
BT  - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Citizenship Education and Democratic Issues (ICCEDI 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 146
EP  - 154
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-626-0_17
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-626-0_17
ID  - Larasati2026
ER  -