UBID to be launched in Feb to bring stability in e-commerce

The government is set to launch Unique Business ID (UBID) facility in February this year in an effort to fetch constancy in the e-commerce sector.

State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak confirmed the matter in a press briefing at the conference room of ICT Division on Wednesday.

Digital traders will have to registers in UBID, he said after reviewing the current construction progress of the platform initiatives being undertaken by the commerce ministry with technical support from the ICT division.

With this, traders who are operating business on social media facebook will also have to get registration, he said, adding that, Central Complaint Management System (CCMS) will deal the allegations of irregularities committed by any registered online platform.

The ICT department is working to launch the UBID registration of digital businesses and Central Logistics Management System (CCMS) for settling complaints from February.

Besides, a digital inter-transaction platform, “Binimoy”, will be launched in March, Palak said. 

In addition, launching of Central Logistics Tracking Platform (CLTP) may take six more months, he said, hoping that, trust, credibility and transparency in digital businesses would be established by building a strong platform using technology.

Responding to a question of journalists, Palak said “There is no scope of neglecting e-commerce as we can’t stop using technology or can’t make it error free. Problems of e-commerce sector should be resolved using new inventions and technology.”

According to the data of 2021, an e-commerce market of $3 billion has been established in the country, he said. More than 25,000 e-commerce and 50,000 f-commerce platforms were operating business, he added.

Around 35 per cent people of the country are involved in digitally buy and sale process which has created an eco-system, he stated.

The registration applications must include information including identity of the owner, a copy of their national identity card, trade license, mobile number and permanent and current address.

In addition, if the business is based within city corporations – a certificate from the ward councillor, the mayor of the municipality or the chairman of the union council must be submitted.

The review meeting was chaired by ICT Division Senior Secretary NM Ziaul Alam while a2i Policy Advisor Anir Chowdhury, a2i Technical Head Rezwanul Haque Jami, e-Cab Director and Co-Founder of Chaldal Zia Ashraf, Commerce Ministry e-Commerce Cell Joint Secretary Saeed Ali, and representatives from other ministries and e-commerce platforms were present.