Govt to launch digital system to manage e-com complaints

The government on Sunday is going to launch a new centralised digital system under the commerce ministry to manage customer complaints against e-commerce companies.

The initiative comes amid increasing allegations of fraud and customer harassment by e-commerce companies.

According to commerce ministry sources, the Central Complaint Management System (CCMS) will be inaugurated by Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi on February 19.

Hafizur Rahman, chief of Central Digital Commerce Cell and additional commerce secretary, told The Business Post, “CCMS is going to be launched next Sunday. It will be integrated with all e-commerce sites. Through this, consumers can file complaints very easily using it. As a result, e-commerce companies will be able to settle complaints on their own initiative.

“Complaints that cannot be resolved quickly through the respective e-commerce platforms will be automatically referred to government agencies. It will be possible to settle most of the complaints through online hearings.”

Ministry sources said the Access to Information Program (A2I) of the ICT Division and E-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (E-CAB) developed the digital system. Initially it will run through CCMS live website. Later, it will also be integrated into an app.

According to the sources, CCMS is a central platform where a consumer will be able to easily file and settle any legitimate complaint related to e-commerce. The system will handle the complaints by coordinating with several parties concerned, including the e-commerce platform, commerce ministry, e-cab and the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP).

Officials expect the digital system will serve as an important means of ensuring customer service and protecting consumer rights in today’s fast-growing e-commerce industry.

The minister stated that DNCRP is receiving a lot of complaints, which will be easier to settle using the new system.

According to the Central Digital Commerce Cell, under the new system, complaints will be accepted through mobile number and NID verification of the consumer. As a result, harassment complaints can be easily resolved.

With access to relevant data, customers will be able to view each company’s complaint settlement rate, ensuring shoppers are more informed before making a purchase.

Besides, commerce ministry officials said once a complaint is made, the CCMs will send a notice to the company concerned informing it about the complaint. In addition, the system will also notify the complainant when their complaint has been successfully received

After that, the company will solve the problem as per the e-commerce policy and guidelines. If the company claims that the complaint has been settled, the platform will verify it with the complainant. Once the customer confirms the information, the platform will update it as a settled complaint.

Meanwhile, if a complaint is not settled, the platform will be notified by the e-commerce company. After a certain period of time, the system will mark the complaint as unresolved and automatically issue a notification to the controller to the Central Digital Commerce Cell. This will automatically be recorded as a formal complaint in the central document system from the CCMS.

Commerce ministry officials believe that the CCMS will increase transparency in the e-commerce sector.

According to sources, the CCMS will initially be managed by DNCRP as the agency handles all types of consumer complaints.

However, the system’s managing authority may change once the Digital Commerce Act is passed. According to the draft law, a digital commerce authority will be formed that will manage the CCMS. The law is expected to be enacted within this year.