According to Section 2.3 of the Rules and Regulations on ICT Facilities and Services in Bhutan, only Bhutanese citizens are eligible to apply for an ICT facility licence, ICT service licence, or a consolidated licence, provided that the applicant does not hold a majority share in any other ICT facility or service licence.
Art. 464 of the Bhutan Information, Communications and Media Act 2018 defines ICT facilities and ICT services, encompassing: (i) telecommunications services, such as public telephony, telegraphy, facsimile, cellular telephony, and pay-phone/communication services; (ii) information technology services, such as internet services; and (iii) transmission facilities, including fixed links and cables, computer facilities, pay-phone/communication facilities, and radio communication transmitters, receivers, and links.
Additionally, the Rules and Regulations for Licensing and Operation of Internet Service Providers in Bhutan establish specific requirements for applications for an Internet Service Provider (ISP) licence.

Bhutan has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

Section 28 of the Bhutan Information, Communications and Media Act 2018 establishes the Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority (BICMA) as an autonomous regulatory authority for the telecommunications sector. It is reported that BICMA operates independently from the government in its decision-making processes.

Annex I, point (p) of the "Payment Aggregators and Payment Gateways Guidelines 2020" stipulates that entities must adopt preventive measures to ensure that data is not stored on infrastructure subject to external jurisdictions, that is infrastructure located outside the country. This requirement is mandatory for payment aggregators and recommended for payment gateways. Under Section 3, payment aggregators are defined as entities that enable e-commerce platforms and merchants to accept various payment instruments from customers, thereby facilitating the completion of payment obligations without necessitating merchants to develop their own payment integration systems. On the other hand, payment gateways are entities that provide the technological infrastructure to route and facilitate the processing of online payment transactions, without engaging in the handling of funds.

Bhutan has not joined any agreement with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders.

According to Art. 35 of the Industrial Property Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan, where an applicant’s ordinary residence or principal place of business is outside Bhutan, the applicant must be represented either by a legal practitioner resident and practising in Bhutan or by a person duly registered as an industrial property agent.
Art. 60 of the Industrial Property Rules further specifies that both legal practitioners and other persons may apply for registration as industrial property agents. The requirements for registration include, inter alia, that the applicant must (i) be a citizen of Bhutan; (ii) be not less than 22 years of age; (iii) be a graduate of a university recognised by Bhutan or possess an equivalent qualification; or (iv) be a certified Bhutanese legal counsel licensed to practise before the courts of Bhutan (these legal counsels are referred to as 'jabmi' in the country).

Bhutan is not a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Bhutan is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II). In fact, the country is not a member of the WTO.

According to Section 4.1.2.1 of the Procurement Rules and Regulations 2023, a procuring agency may conduct open tendering only under the following circumstances: (i) when certain goods, domestic contractors with the required capacity to undertake specific works, or service providers are not available in the country; or (ii) in donor-funded projects, where the funding agreement requires the procuring agency to approach the international market.

According to Section 1.1.2.3 of the Procurement Rules and Regulations 2023, goods of Bhutanese origin may be granted preferential treatment in any procurement. Where two or more tenders are evaluated as equivalent, preference shall be given to the bid offering goods of Bhutanese origin, provided that the price difference does not exceed 20%. Similarly, for works where tenders from foreign bidders are invited, a margin of preference of up to 20% may be granted to national bidders.

Reports highlight persistent challenges within Bhutan’s public procurement system, notably the need for timely invoice payments via the electronic government procurement (e-GP) platform, comprehensive record-keeping, adequate resourcing and staffing, and improved inter-institutional coordination. Despite an established legal and regulatory framework, practical implementation issues persist. In 2024, controversy arose when the government awarded direct contracts for laptops and desktops to the State Trading Corporation of Bhutan Limited (STCBL), prompting objections from private IT firms on grounds of unfairness, non-compliance with the Procurement Rules and Regulations (PRR) 2023, and insufficient stakeholder consultation. The government subsequently annulled the STCBL contract.

Bhutan is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). In fact, the country is not a member of the WTO.

Pursuant to Section 5 of the Foreign Direct Investment Regulations, foreign direct investment is permitted in all sectors except those enumerated in Schedule IV. This schedule encompasses, inter alia, news media and “activities included in the Prohibited List of the Royal Government.” The latter list could not be found online, and therefore, it remains uncertain whether the activities specified in Schedule IV extend to the digital domain.

In addition to the sectors where foreign investment is prohibited, the Foreign Direct Investment Regulations 2019 provide that all other sectors, with the exception of certain sectors in Schedules I-III that have ad hoc conditions, are subject to a maximum foreign investor shareholding of 74% (Section 8). The 74% limit therefore applies to virtually all sectors of the economy.