Effective e-commerce policy needed

Despite enhanced vigilance by the authorities and arrests of some ecommerce fraudsters in recent weeks, there seems to be no end to the schemers in the country. The names of the con men are coming to the media one after another with the incredible stories of the amount of money they have taken out of the pockets of the victims.

Concerned citizens believe this has become possible because of the absence of an effective policy for smooth operation of the business.    

There is however no clarity on the question of whether a new law will be formulated or the existing one would be amended to regulate the e-commerce sector. 

While the policy makers want to go for a new law, people involved in this business insist on reforming the existing one. In this connection, a committee was formed by the government to formulate an e-commerce law and also establish an authority over the sector. The e-commerce committee was earlier asked to make recommendations within 15 days about what to do to solve the problems in this sector. It was also asked to draft a law to manage and control e-commerce businesses and take effective steps to create the structure and determine the functions of a digital commerce authority within two months. It was decided that after the law is passed and the e-commerce authority is formed, the authority will start its journey within six months.

It is learned that in the first meeting of the committee, e-commerce entrepreneurs proposed amending the existing laws instead of formulating a new one. In their argument they said that if a new law comes with strict rules, new entrepreneurs will be under pressure, and controlling e-commerce companies using the existing laws is possible in the same way other businesses are regulated. Instead of a new law they want strict monitoring of the sector.

It transpired from the meeting that in response to the entrepreneurs’ proposal, the committee formed a nine-member sub-committee which will review the proposal and also the government’s plan to formulate a new law. The sub-committee was asked to submit their recommendations within the next 30 days.

The high-level committee consisted of representatives from the commerce ministry, the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh, the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, Bangladesh Competition Commission, the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), and the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit under the central bank.

We understand, the final decision concerning formulation of a new policy or amendment of the existing one will be taken after the sub-committee’s recommendations reach the ministry of commerce. On their part, the ministry has drafted an online registration form required to run e-commerce operations, which entrepreneurs in this sector will have to fill up to register. Without proper registration none will be allowed to do business. It was further revealed that the commerce ministry will form an authority to oversee the work of the ecommerce companies.

According to high level ministry sources, a new law or an amended law will take months to finalise, therefore, the existing acts such as, consumer rights protection act, the competition act, and the Digital Security Act will be in force to regulate the business. But this needs to be mentioned that even the Ecommerce Association of Bangladesh officials believe the existing laws are not sufficient to regulate the e-commerce sector.

In the absence of a clear-cut ecommerce policy, at present ecommerce businesses are regulated by the ecommerce policy 2020, the Digital Commerce Operation Guideline 2021, and the consumer rights protection act. Under the consumer rights protection act, the punishment for fraud in business is a one-year imprisonment or a fine of Tk 2 lakh. The failure to provide the promised goods and services is punishable by a one-year imprisonment or a fine of Tk 50,000. If the same crime is committed more than once, the punishment will be doubled. Under the Digital Security Act, a fraud is punishable by a five-year imprisonment or a fine of Tk 5 lakh.