A total of 662 TCB dealers have so far faced regulatory action for breaching the rules and terms and conditions of the contracts signed with the state-owned trading agency, officials said.
Their licences have been scrapped and the security money confiscated, said an official of the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
"They did not renew their contracts for a long time. They were even reluctant to take delivery of essential items, a prerequisite for maintaining their dealership rights," he said.
The agency had communicated with these dealers before revoking their licences and confiscating the security money, he added.
Contacted, TCB spokesperson Md Humayun Kabir said the agency has cancelled the licences of 662 dealers for various reasons.
Some dealers have deactivated their licences willingly while some others did so before contesting elections, he said.
Besides, licences of others have been suspended on the basis of the reports of the Deputy Commissioners (DC) concerned, he added.
Some dealers also had their licences cancelled as they did not have shops, said Mr Kabir.
According to the available data of the state-run entity, licences of 662 dealers have been scrapped as of January 28 this year.
Some 2,790 dealers are listed with the TCB across the country, according to the state-run agency that works towards keeping the prices of essential commodities stable and supplying them at affordable prices to the consumers.
The TCB sells sugar, soybean oil, red lentils, grams and dates through dealers at subsidised rates as part of its intervention into the market.
The TCB cancelled the licences for the sake of consumers' interest, said the official.
The organisation counts huge financial losses every year and gets subsidy from the government, a commerce ministry official said.
The government provided the state-run agency with about Tk 3.76 billion in subsidies, including interest, between fiscal years 2010-11 and 2015-16, according to the TCB.
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