Govt to set up e-commerce regulatory body: Minister 

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi on Wednesday said the government will set up an e-commerce regulatory body to monitor the sector. 

He also noted that there will be a detailed e-commerce law passed and enforced soon, alongside establishing a central complaint cell. 

"Legal actions as per the current law will be taken against those companies who have cheated customers," he said. 

He made the remarks after presiding over a meeting at the commerce ministry to review the recent problems in the country's digital e-commerce business and policy-related decisions regarding the sector.

The minister said that the Digital Security Act and Money Laundering Act will be amended to ensure legal action against fraudulent companies. 

Tipu Munshi noted that there were some legal complexities about refunding customers of Jubok and Destiny group by using those companies' assets. 

"The law minister has been instructed to solve the issue," he added, saying that the government cannot shut down the entire e-commerce sector for 10-12 companies. 

According to the minister, transactions worth Tk6,000 crore took place in the e-commerce sector before the introduction of the escrow service on 4 June. 

Following its introduction, products worth Tk400 crore have been ordered through the service and Tk200 crore has been transacted. 

The minister said that companies like Evaly and Alesha Mart wasted a lot of their assets on advertisements and sponsorships. 

"We will try to ensure that these companies cannot cheat customers [any further]. Every company must obtain a unique Business Identification Number from the commerce ministry," Tipu Munshi said. 

Regarding the finance minister's comment on the commerce ministry's responsibility for frauds committed by e-commerce platforms, Tipu Munshi said, "We have arranged the meeting because we have obligations. We [commerce ministry] don't want to escape those obligations."

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Law Minister Anisul Huq, Information Minister Hasan Mahmood, Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Competition Commission Chairman Mofizul Islam, Digital E-Commerce Cell Head and WTO Director General (Additional Secretary) Hafizur Rahman, Deputy Secretary Mohammad Saeed Ali and other senior officials were present at the meeting.

Earlier, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi requested people to control their urge of buying products at low prices from e-commerce platforms to prevent fraudulent incidents like those by Evaly and Eorange.

Evaly received advance payments by luring people with heavy discounts on products on its site and promising delivery within 7-45 days. Many buyers, however, are yet to receive the items they ordered.

The Rapid Action Battalion recently arrested the CEO and chairman of Evaly following a case filed by a customer on allegation of money embezzlement. Later, two more cases were filed against the couple.
Besides, another e-commerce platform, Eorange, followed the same business model. They were not delivering products to customers or not returning the money paid against the orders over the past few weeks. Top officials of the controversial online merchants are already in jail.