Get Evaly vetted

The Bangladesh Bank has asked the Ministry of Commerce to conduct a separate audit for properly verifying the financial accounts of the controversial e-commerce company Evaly.

The directive comes as the ministry recently sent a letter to the central bank asking for financial information on the disputed e-commerce platform.

Besides, a nine-member inter-ministerial committee formed on August 8 will meet today (Tuesday) to review the answers given by Evaly and decide on the next course of action for the e-firm.

According to sources in the Ministry of Commerce, it is likely that there would be discrepancies in the financial information provided by the online shopping mall, and so, the Bangladesh Bank has suggested carrying out an audit of it.

Now is a big challenge for Evaly as to how it would clear the debts of its buyers and suppliers.

The ministry will take a decision on all these issues in today’s meeting.

Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh will attend the meeting.

The Ministry of Commerce formed the committee headed by Md Hafizur Rahman, director general of the WTO cell under the Ministry of Commerce.

The other members of the committee include representatives from Bangladesh Competition Commission, Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Information Technology, Bangladesh Bank, National Board of Revenue and National Consumer Rights Protection Department.

Tanjib-ul-Alam, a Supreme Court lawyer working on company law, said the today’s meeting agenda includes taking decision on Evaly and discussing other ecommerce organisations.

In this regard, the committee chairman Hafizur Rahman told The Business Post, “We sent a letter to the Bangladesh Bank seeking financial information about several e-commerce organisations including Evaly. In response to the letter, the central bank asked us to audit Evaly.”

But, he said, when it comes to performing an audit, the ministry has to consider various issues like financial cost of the task, however, next steps would be taken according to the law after discussing everything in the meeting.

The meeting will decide what to do next with Evaly and other rogue e-commerce organisations, according to the committee chair.

“We will definitely discuss how to get to a right solution so that buyers, suppliers and companies can have their own interest,” said Hafizur.

Evali said if business runs smoothly, it will be possible for the company to repay the dues in the next five months.

Hafizur pointed out that he smells a rat in the “if” that Evaly mentions.

Now the question appears how the buyers will buy products from Evaly with confidence given the current crisis facing the e-commerce platform, and how the e-trader will pay the debt with its income, the committee chairman argued.