Uzbek Cybersecurity Bill Strengthens Payment Protection

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — The Legislative Chamber of Uzbekistan's Oliy Majlis has approved in its second reading a draft law aimed at strengthening the country's cybersecurity framework and combating offences committed in the digital environment. Following its approval by lawmakers, the bill has been sent to the Senate for consideration.

Lawmakers said several provisions of the draft were revised ahead of the second reading to reflect proposals from members of parliament and law enforcement practice.

Amendments to the Law on Payments and Payment Systems provide that financial losses suffered by citizens as a result of non-compliance with cybersecurity legislation or failures to prevent suspicious (fraudulent) transactions will be compensated by banks, payment system operators or payment organisations. According to the bill's authors, the measure is intended to increase the responsibility of financial market participants for ensuring information security.

The draft law also introduces administrative liability for transferring personal accounts in the remote public services system or subscriber device identification modules to other individuals for personal gain, as well as for the unlawful use of another person's account or subscriber number.

Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code are intended to improve the handling of digital evidence. Under the proposed changes, officials conducting pre-investigation inquiries will be authorised, in accordance with established procedures, to seize electronic data, documents and other physical evidence relevant to a criminal case when investigating offences committed using information technologies, provided their location is known.

The bill also introduces the temporary suspension of transactions involving bank accounts, electronic wallets and crypto-assets as a procedural enforcement measure.

Lawmakers said the measure would help prevent the transfer of unlawfully obtained funds to other parties.

At the same time, the relevant procedures have been aligned with judicial oversight mechanisms to safeguard constitutionally protected property rights.

According to lawmakers, the bill will help prevent cybercrime, strengthen the protection of citizens' personal data and property, improve the resilience of the payment infrastructure, and further reinforce legal security in the digital environment.