Committee seeks stakeholders’ opinions

The high-level committee on e-commerce has asked stakeholders and related organisations to provide their opinions within seven days on how to restore order and resolve the existing issues in this sector.

The committee would submit a report to the Cabinet Division within a month based on the opinions, said AHM Shafiquzzaman, additional secretary of the commerce ministry, on Monday after attending a meeting on e-commerce issues.

Regarding refunding the money of e-commerce customers and suppliers, he said there was a mandate for recovering the swindled money. “We will determine a method for recovering the money according to the mandate and will send it to the cabinet. The cabinet will then make the next decision,” he said.

“For Evaly, the High Court itself is appointing administrators, and this method can be applied to others too,” he added.

Eight recommendations will be sent to the cabinet within a month for securing consumers’ rights, said Shafiquzzaman.

“The report will include recommendations on bringing all the e-commerce sites under one payment gateway, VAT, and tax,” he said.

Policymakers will make a digital commerce guideline based on the recommendations or a way to bring e-commerce under discipline, he added.

The additional secretary said the e-commerce scams had definitely caused damage, which had tobe repaired for taking the business forward.

Regarding the registration of e-commerce companies, he said a format had already been made and the committee was working on the online registration process now.

A meeting would be held next week in this regard, he said.

Earlier, the cabinet formed the high-level committee to safeguard the rights of consumers who had been scammed by e-commerce firms.

The committee consists of representatives from the commerce ministry, the ICT ministry, the Bangladesh Bank, and the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh among others.