The central bank has allowed banks to provide remittance facilities to the e-commerce platforms for facilitating their activities in Bangladesh, officials said.
All authorized dealer (AD) banks are now allowed to remit maximum US$10,000 or its equivalent annually to a member firm of e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB) for meeting the bonafide current expenses abroad through traditional banking channel or card channel, according to a notification, issued by the Bangladesh Bank (BB), on Sunday.
The AD banks may issue refillable international credit/pre-paid card favouring a nominated official of eligible firm with US$ 2,000 or equivalent.
The aggregate refills in cards and remittances by banking channel shall not exceed the total limit of US$10,000 in a calendar year, it added.
The BB restricted payments of royalty, technical knowledge/technical know-how fee, technical assistance fee and franchise fee under the limit, according to the officials.
As per the notification, outward remittance for such expenses would be guided by the guidelines issued by The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA).
The AD banks have been asked to comply with relevant foreign exchange regulations, deduction and payments of applicable taxes at sources, VAT and other levies, recommendation from e-CAB, etc.
Talking to the FE, a BB senior official said such remittance facilities for e-CAB member firms will facilitate e-commerce activities in Bangladesh.
