Subject 02- Electronic Notification 

Subject 02:  “Electronic Notification” 

  • Electronic Notification

It refers to the notification made in electronic format in accordance with the ‘‘Law no 7201 on Notifications” and the ‘‘Electronic Notification Regulation’’.

  • Electronic Notification and Its Benefits

Electronic notification, as per Article 7/A of Law No. 7201 on Notifications and the Electronic Notification Regulation, refers to notifications sent to individuals and institutions with a suitable electronic notification address by authorities authorized to issue notifications. It produces the same legal results as physical notifications.

While physical notification processes can take weeks to complete, electronic notifications are processed within seconds in the digital environment.

The advantages of electronic notification can be listed as follows:

  • When notifications are issued in electronic format, no hard copies are required, contributing to environmental conservation. According to a statement from the Ministry of Justice, the eco-friendly e-notification system delivered 51,139,911 notifications electronically to their recipients in 2022, resulting in a paper savings of 1,789 tons and leaving 30,428 trees in their natural habitat.
  • Electronic notifications maintain a detailed database of when the deliveries were made, the identities of the sender and recipient, the contents of the sent message, and any attached documents. Consequently, the recipient cannot deny receipt or the timing of the transmission.
  • The cost of electronic notification is significantly lower than that of physical notifications.

Principles of Electronic Notification are outlined in Article 4 of the Regulation as follows:

  1. Ensuring delivery, notification, and documentation.
  2. Ensuring information security.
  3. Protecting personal data.
  4. Ensuring integration and collaboration.
  5. Maintaining service quality.
  6. Complying with national and international standards.

Electronic notification processes conducted under the law are carried out through the National Electronic Notification System established and operated by the Post and Telegraph Organization Incorporated Company. The Post and Telegraph Organization Incorporated Company takes all necessary measures to ensure the security of the system and the preservation of data registered in this system.

  • Mandatory Recipients of Electronic Notification by Electronic Means

According to Article 5 of the Regulation, electronic notification is mandatory for the following natural and legal persons:

    • Public administrations listed in Appendices (I), (II), (III), and (IV) attached to the Public Financial Management and Control Law No. 5018 dated 10/12/2003, as well as related revolving fund organizations.
    • Local administrations defined in Law No. 5018.
    • Other public institutions and organizations established by special laws, as well as funds and guarantee funds established by law.
    • Public economic enterprises and their subsidiary partnerships, institutions, and businesses.
  • Other partnerships in which more than fifty percent of the capital belongs to the public.
    • Professional organizations and their umbrella organizations with the status of public institutions. (Bar Associations, Chambers of Commerce and Industry)
    • All private legal entities, including those established by law. (Joint-Stock Companies, Collective Companies, Limited Liability Companies, Commandite Companies, Cooperatives, Associations, and Foundations)
  • Notaries.
  • Lawyers registered on the Bar Association’s list.
  • Mediators and Experts registered in the registry.
  • The units to which persons authorized to represent the institutions, public economic enterprises, or other partnerships in which more than fifty percent of the capital belongs to the public, concerning matters before administrative and judicial authorities, execution offices, or arbitrators.

Except for those within the scope of the first paragraph, individuals and legal entities shall be provided with an electronic service address upon their request. In such cases, electronic delivery is mandatory for these individuals.

In cases where electronic delivery cannot be carried out for a compelling reason as stipulated in this Law, delivery shall be made by other means specified in this Law.

Electronic delivery is deemed to have been made on the last day of the fifth day following the date it reached the recipient’s electronic address.

According to Supreme Court 9th civil Chamber Desicion no 2019/7836 E. 2019/21446 K. 03.12.2019; 

“Article 7/a of Law No. 7201 on Notification states: ‘Electronic notification can be made to a person who provides an electronic address suitable for notification by giving an electronic address for notification. Electronic notification is considered to have been made on the last day of the fifth day following the date it reached the recipient’s electronic address. The procedures and principles regarding the implementation of this article shall be determined by regulation.’

… According to the decision of the 25th Civil Chamber of the … Regional Court of Justice, the notification should be considered as made on 11/03/2019 since it was placed in the electronic notification area of the internal defendants’ attorney 5 days after 06/03/2019.

It is understood that the decision to reject the appeal based on the expiration of the appeal period, which was issued on 15/03/2019 within the legal appeal period of 8 days, was made based on a material error. Therefore, the decision dated 18/09/2019, numbered 2019/3962 and 2019/16152, is hereby REVERSED.”

  • Mandatory Recipients of Electronic Notification by Electronic Means
  • Proof record: Records electronically generated and signed with an electronic certificate that provide evidence of the electronic notification being received, read, and officially delivered in accordance with the Notification Law and this Regulation, where it is received by the National Electronic Notification System (UETS) from the authorized body or entity to issue notifications.
  • Electronic certificate: A qualified electronic certificate specified in Article 9 of the Electronic Signature Law dated 15/01/2004, with its qualifications defined.
  • Electronic notification: Notification made electronically in accordance with the Notification Law and this Regulation.
  • Electronic notification address: A notification address uniquely created and registered in UETS by PTT based on the identity information for natural persons and the system information for legal entities.
  • Electronic notification message: An electronic message consisting of the content to be notified, attached documents, and the required recipient information for notification, signed with a secure electronic signature or an electronic certificate by the authorized body or entity to issue notifications.
  • Secure electronic signature: A secure electronic signature as specified in Article 4 of Law No. 5070 with its defined qualifications.
  • Transaction record: All the transaction logs of the information system that must be kept as required by the legislation, which occur during the provision of electronic notification services by PTT.
  • Recipient: The natural or legal person who is the recipient of electronic notification.
  • PTT: The Postal and Telegraph Organization Joint-Stock Company.
  • Authorized body or entity to issue notifications: The competent authority, institution, organization, or person authorized to issue notifications under the Notification Law.
  • UETS: The system established, operated, and secured by PTT to perform electronic notification processes as per the Notification Law and this Regulation.
  • Timestamp: A timestamp as defined in the first paragraph of clause (h) of Article 3 of Law No. 5070, (It means the record verified by an electronic certificate service provider with an electronic signature for the purpose of determining the time when an electronic data is produced, changed, sent, received, and/or recorded.)
  • Preparation and Delivery of Electronic Notifications

According to Article 9 of the Regulation, the preparation and delivery of electronic notifications occur in the following sequence:

    • The competent authority for notification prepares the electronic notification message and submits it to UETS.
    • UETS associates the electronic notification message with a time stamp and delivers it to the recipient’s electronic notification address.
    • To ensure confidentiality, the content and attached documents to be notified are encrypted by UETS, and they can only be viewed by the recipient.
    • Evidence records of the notification, whether through UETS or inter-system integration, are generated at the moment the entire electronic notification message is delivered.
    • Electronic notifications are made electronically to the unit to which individuals authorized to represent before administrative and judicial authorities, enforcement offices, or arbitrators are affiliated. The existence of a separate electronic notification address for authorized representatives does not prevent the application of this rule.
  • Electronic notifications are considered to have been made on the fifth day following the date of reaching the recipient’s electronic notification address.
  • Notification of the Recipient
  • Recipients who wish to be informed when an electronic notification message reaches their electronic notification address provide their email address or a phone number with SMS capability to PTT.
  • When the electronic notification reaches the recipient’s address, PTT sends a notification message to the recipient. This message is sent to the phone with SMS capability for a fee and free of charge to the email address.

 

  • The failure to make or delayed notification under this article for any reason does not affect the validity of the notification.
  • Transaction records regarding the notification of the recipient under this article are maintained by UETS.
  • Recipient’s access to the electronic notification address

The recipient accesses the electronic notification address using their secure electronic signature, or by verifying their identity via the e-Government portal, or by using a single-use authentication code sent to their mobile phone via SMS along with a password provided by PTT.

  • Notification of the evidence record for the electronic notification reaching the recipient’s address

UETS keeps records of whether the electronic notification has reached the recipient’s address and immediately, within twenty-four hours at the latest, notifies the authorized issuing authority. In case a re-notification is required due to a failure to provide timely notification, the cost of such notification shall be covered by PTT.

  • Main and Sub-Transaction Authorizers

Legal entities falling within the scope of Article 5 of the Regulation appoint at least one but no more than ten main transaction authorizers to carry out transactions related to the electronic notification address and notify PTT.

The duties and powers of the main transaction authorizer are as follows:

  • To appoint, add, or remove sub-transaction authorizers to/from UETS.
  • To assign roles to sub-transaction authorizers in UETS.
  • To conduct all necessary technical operations and any other technical processes performed by sub-transaction authorizers.

A sub-transaction authorizer can access data within the scope of the authority granted by the main transaction authorizer.

  • Burden of Proof

In the absence of evidence to the contrary, records of evidence shall be considered as conclusive.

Transaction and evidence records are maintained in the archive in an accessible manner, ensuring their security, confidentiality, and integrity, for the following periods:

  • Transaction records carried out by system administrators and operators working within the scope of UETS, authorized issuing authorities, and recipients are kept for ten years.
  • Transaction records related to unforeseen situations that threaten the continuity of UETS business processes or information security are kept for ten years.
  • Access records of the recipient to UETS are kept for ten years
  •  Evidence records are kept for thirty years.

The deletion of transaction and evidence records is subject to having passed an audit at least once.

PTT is obligated to provide transaction and evidence records related to electronic notifications to the authorized authorities electronically upon request.

  • Inability to Make Electronic Notification

If electronic notification cannot be made for a compelling reason, notification is carried out through other methods stipulated in the Notification Law.

  • System Security, Address Book, and Technical Criteria
  • System Security

The PTT takes all necessary measures to ensure the security of UETS and the preservation of the data registered in this system. To achieve this, secure systems and devices are used, and the security of the systems, devices, as well as the premises in which they are located, is maintained.

The PTT employs or ensures the employment of expert personnel in technical fields such as information security, database management, computer networks, and data protection. This personnel must have sufficient professional experience or have received relevant training in their respective areas.

The PTT’s organizational chart for UETS shows the job descriptions and distribution of all personnel it employs or ensures the employment of.

  • Address Book

The PTT creates an up-to-date address book containing information related to electronic notification addresses and makes this directory available for use by the authorities empowered to issue notification.

The procedures and principles related to the electronic notification address book are determined by the PTT with the approval of the Ministry.

  • Technical Criteria

The procedures and principles regarding the technical criteria for the systems and devices to be used by the PTT to ensure the effective, efficient, and secure operation of the electronic notification system are determined by the Ministry.

These technical criteria are outlined in the National Electronic Notification System Technical Criteria Procedures and Principles Document, prepared based on the first paragraph of Article 25 of the Electronic Notification Regulation.

  • The operation of the National Electronic Notification System and Technical Details

According to Article 5, within the UETS process flow, the following pieces of evidence will be created:

  • Notification Accepted (SubmissionAcceptanceRejection: Acceptance): This is evidence that the incoming message has been received by the UETS for delivery to the recipient’s account after necessary checks.
  • Notification Rejected (SubmissionAcceptanceRejection: Rejection): This evidence is produced when the message is not accepted by the UETS, typically due to reasons such as the presence of a virus in the incoming notification, inconsistencies between the summary value of the package prepared by the sender and the incoming package’s summary value in the UETS, or sending a message exceeding the allowed message size.
  • Notification Delivered (DeliveryNonDeliveryToRecipient: Acceptance): This evidence indicates that the notification has been successfully placed in the designated notification area (account) for the recipient, either directly or via integration between the PTT UETS Information system and the account holder’s information system.
  • Notification Not Delivered (DeliveryNonDeliveryToRecipient: Non-Delivery): This evidence is produced when the notification cannot be placed in the designated notification area (account) for the recipient or, in cases where notifications are delivered through integration, they are not successfully transferred within 24 hours.
  • Notification Read (RetrievalNonRetrievalByRecipient: Retrieval): This evidence is created when the notification is opened by the recipient.
  • Notification Read Accepted (RetrievalNonRetrievalByRecipient: RetrievalTimeout): This evidence is automatically generated when the notification is accepted as read after the legal time frame set following the delivery to the recipient’s account.
  • Notification Account Enabled (AccountEnabledDisabled: Enabled): This evidence is created when any notification account is enabled.
  • Notification Account Disabled (AccountEnabledDisabled: Disabled): This evidence is created when any notification account is disabled.

  • UETS Account Number

According to Article 11 of the Regulation:

In the UETS, a unique account number is assigned to each account holder. This account number is displayed on the screen when accessing the UETS system via an interface or e-government channel.

The E-Notification Account number consists of a 15-digit numerical series, where the first digit is used as an identifier for natural persons, official legal entities, and private legal entities.

E-Notification Account Numbers are validated based on a numerical algorithm. Information about this algorithm is shared with institutions and organizations involved in integration.

  • Security and Quality Criteria

According to Article 13, PTT complies with the following standards in operating the UETS:

  • TS ISO/IEC 27001
  • TS EN ISO 9001
  • ISO/IEC 22301

 

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