6,700 Qcoom clients to get back Tk59cr stuck in escrow

Over 6,700 clients of eCommerce platform Qcoom will get back Tk59 crore stuck with payment gateway Foster in escrow.

The commerce ministry is going to write to the central bank to take necessary steps to clear the said amount, which the customers paid but had not received any products against their orders.

The step will mark the beginning of clearing a total of Tk214 crore, stuck in escrow services, of which Tk166 crore accounts for orders made in Qcoom, said the ministry officials.

"This is good news for clients of the eCommerce platforms," Chief of the commerce ministry's Digital Commerce Cell, AHM Shafiquzzaman told The Business Standard.

"Once we get the list of remaining Qcoom clients, we will be able to return their money as well as the money stuck in other eCommerce companies," he added.

The commerce ministry is expected to write to the Bangladesh Bank in this regard this week.

Other than the Tk166 crore, stuck in the payment gateway Foster, Qcoom has another Tk231 crore stuck in their Foster account.

To release the stuck fund in the Foster account and disburse it to clients, the commerce ministry held a meeting with officials of the law ministry, central bank and law enforcement agencies on 28 December.

The commerce ministry instructed Foster and Qcoom to submit a complete list of clients who made payments and had not received products by 10 January. On Monday, both companies filed a partial list to the ministry.

According to the list, a total of 6721 Qcoom clients are owed over Tk59.05 crore.  

Qcoom and its payment gateway Foster have been asked to file a complete list of customers by Sunday, said Shafiquzzaman.    

Earlier on 30 June, the Bangladesh Bank froze Foster's account at the request of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) over money laundering allegations and as a result, Qcoom's Tk397 crore in their Foster account got stuck.   

Qcoom Chief Executive Officer Ripon Mia was arrested in October and the operation of the beleaguered online shopping platform has been suspended ever since.

The Bangladesh Bank has suspended two Foster accounts with nearly Tk194 crore. According to the central bank's Financial Intelligence Unit, Qcoom, in their six accounts, has Tk790 crore, paid by the customers. The suspended accounts currently have a deposit of Tk2.97 crores, while the company has already withdrawn the rest.

After the Qcoom clients get their refunds from the money stuck in the payment gateway, it will pave the way for refunding another Tk48 crore, which customers have paid on other shady eCommerce platforms.

However, there is still uncertainty about refunding the money customers paid before the introduction of the escrow service, because priorly the customers' payments went directly to the companies' bank accounts.