E-commerce scams: Committee to submit report in one month

A committee to protect consumers’ rights centring misappropriation of several thousand crore taka by rogue e-commerce platforms will submit its report to the commerce ministry in a month with recommendations to restore order.

A meeting was held at the ministry of commerce on Monday to outline actions to protect the rights of the consumers from rogue e-shopping malls. Additional secretary to the commerce ministry AHM Shafiquzzaman briefed journalists about the meeting.

When asked how the money stolen by some e-commerce platforms would be recovered, the additional secretary referred to the commerce minister and said the committee has been mandated to develop a policy which will advise the authorities how to recover the lost money and pay back to the victims.

The additional secretary said, “We have identified eight recommendations to protect the rights of the consumers.” He, however, did not disclose the recommendations.

“We will send these recommendations to the cabinet. Instructions will come from there, later,” he said.

While responding to a reporter he said an escrow account (to safeguard the clients) has been introduced since June 30.

He said, it is difficult to introduce a single gateway payment system for all e-commerce platforms. To bring them all under ad valorem tax (VAT), he said “we need to report on how to bring our e-commerce companies under VAT.”

Shafiquzzaman said, “This committee will sit in the next one month and send this total thing to the cabinet. After sending it, we will probably get directives from top policy makers on how to bring discipline to the e-commerce outlets.”

He said there are many government agencies, such as the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of ICT, Bangladesh Bank, to monitor digital trade.

“We have e-CAB representatives and CAB (Consumers’ Association of Bangladesh) representatives. We will follow the guidelines on how to move those issues forward.”

“Everyone has to take e-commerce forward, there is no alternative. The main goal is how we can repair the damage that has been done to the clients…the committee is working on it,” he said.

He told journalists that they have already worked on the e-commerce company registration and that the registration format has also been changed (to make them accountable). “We will bring all e-commerce firms under the registration. I am working on how to register online.”