Home ›› 28 Feb 2023 ›› Front
As many as 49,190 customers who were duped into ordering products from 14 e-commerce companies have received more than Tk 353 crore in refunds from the business entities in the past year.
The development came after Commerce Ministry took measures to refund the money that was stuck in various payment gateways during this period to customers.
Of the 14 entities, controversial e-commerce platform Evaly has finally started paying its customers back. The company refunded a little over Tk 1.45 lakh, which was stuck with online payment gateway SSLCOMMERZ, to 14 customers, according to Commerce Ministry officials.
SSLCOMMERZ disbursed the money on Thursday and it was handed over to the customers on Monday, the ministry’s Deputy Secretary Md Sayed Ali told The Business Post.
“Some Tk 1.5 crore stuck in Nagad will also be refunded in a couple of days,” he added.
He said that the refund process for Evaly customers started on February 12. The money that is still stuck in bKash, Nagad and SSLCOMMERZ will be refunded to customers in phases.
Evaly currently has the highest amount — Tk 17.69 crore — stuck in Nagad, followed by Tk 4.91 crore in bKash and Tk 3.40 crore in SSLCOMMERZ. It also has some small amounts stuck in various other payment gateway services.
According to Commerce Ministry sources, around Tk 525 crore were stuck in various gateways since June 30, 2021, after purchase orders were made to 27 e-commerce companies.
Of that amount, Tk 352.59 crore has been refunded to the customers so far. The remaining Tk 172 crore is yet to be refunded.
According to the ministry, Shurjomukhi Limited and Foster Corporation are two other payment gateways where customers’ money is still stuck.
However, the government does not want to take the responsibility of returning the money of any defrauded customer that was paid before June 30, 2021. The ministry says further action will be taken based on the court’s ruling.
Refunding process
According to the ministry, the refunding process started in March last year. In the last year, Qcoom has refunded the most — more than Tk 288 crore to 40,723 customers — among 14 e-commerce companies.
Besides, 2,294 customers of Alesha Mart were refunded Tk 40.61 crore, Dalal Plus refunded Tk 18.49 crore to 2,420 customers, and Shrestha.com refunded Tk 1.50 crore to 230 customers.
Also, Boom Boom refunded Tk 80.63 lakh to 253 customers; Anander Bazar Tk 38.37 lakh to 201 customers; Tholay.com Tk 43.57 lakh to 391 customers; Dhamaka Tk 89.07 lakh to 2,502 customers; Alif World Tk 31.47 lakh to 28 customers; Bangladesh Deal Tk 52.92 lakh to 148 customers; Sophetic Tk 10.36 lakh to 10 customers; 99-Global Tk 22.59 lakh to 75 customers; and Adyan Mart returned Tk 14.16 lakh to 236 customers.
Commerce Ministry sources said the escrow policy came into effect on July 1, 2021. In line with that, the money deposited by customers in the payment gateway is only deposited to the e-commerce company’s account after the customer receives the product.
Regarding this issue, the ministry’s Senior Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh told The Business Post, “The refunding process is complicated. But the issues will be resolved and the rest of the money will be returned.”
However, he added, further steps would be taken to refund the money from Evaly and other companies that have ongoing cases against them based on the court’s ruling.
As many as 110 cases were filed against 24 e-commerce companies and their owners and officials. The Criminal Investigation Department of police is also investigating money laundering allegations against 14 of these companies.
Commerce Ministry sources said that 13 other e-commerce companies are yet to refund their customer and the ministry is working on starting the process.
These companies are Sirajganj Shop, Needs, 24tkt.com, eOrange, WeCoom, Akash Neel, Priyo Shop, Aladinerprodip, Amar Bazar, Asthar Pratik, Barirdokan.com, Nirapad.com, and Infinity Marketing Limited.
