The central bank of Bangladesh has sought opinion from government authority on payback of over Tk 2.14 billion in e-commerce customers' money stuck up in different payment gateways.
"Since the amount that the e-commerce companies owed to the customers cannot be settled in the form of supplying products, you are requested to make your opinion as to how such funds can be paid back," the Bangladesh Bank says in its recent letter to the commerce ministry.
On June 30, the central bank introduced an escrow service on payments to e-commerce platforms.
Since the issuance of a circular on October 14, 2021 over the botched e-commerce issue, over Tk 5.05 billion had been paid to the payment gateways by the customers concerned against goods they had ordered.
Of the amount, the payment gateways have already settled over Tk 2.91 billion to the online marketplaces.
The remaining over Tk 2.14 billion got stuck in the different service-providing firms, including SSL, shurjoMukhi, Foster, bKash, Nagad, and Southeast Bank Ltd.
Of the stuck-up amount, over Tk 1.65 billion of Qcoom online shopping, paid by its customers against ordered goods, has been stuck up with Foster Payments.
And over Tk 485 million has been stuck in other payment gateways, according to the BB letter.
Complexities cropped up in payback of the money stuck in the payment gateways due to shutdown of operations of such e-commerce platforms concerned, it is mentioned in the central bank letter.
"The e-commerce companies may claim the amount paid to their clients by them if it is proven that they supplied earlier products to the customers concerned," says the letter sent by the Payment Systems Department of BB.
Officials familiar with the issue told the FE that the authorities concerned would sit today (Wednesday) with the cabinet division to discuss how to pay back blocked funds in line with the BB request.
In the meeting, officials of the commerce ministry and BB would be present to deal with the much-discussed matter of e-commerce bust, which, meanwhile, has landed in higher court following a writ petition.
Commerce ministry officials who are involved with the e-commerce issue would not make any comment on the BB letter as well as the meeting that will be held at the cabinet division.
Earlier, in a special meeting on the troubled e-commerce sector held at the commerce ministry on October 25, 2021 with commerce minister Tipu Munshi in the chair, the government had decided to take steps to pay back Tk 2.14 billion stuck in different payment gateways to e-commerce customers in three months.
PM's private industry and investment adviser, Salman Fazlur Rahman, post and telecoms minister Mustafa Jabbar, state minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak and commerce secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh attended the event.
Representatives from cabinet division, different ministries and state agencies, Bangladesh Bank, FBCCI, e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh, among others, were also present.
"We've discussed return of the money of customers of different e-commerce platforms stuck at different gateways. This is a big issue. The Bangladesh Bank (BB) will work on it," says Mr Tipu.
Government agencies are working to pay back the money that was paid in advance by customers from July 01 until October 14, he adds.
"…It will take time to clear the funds to the customers concerned. We've also discussed the legal complexities regarding the return of the stuck money."
The amount of Tk 2.14 billion has been blocked at payment gateways for not delivering goods to customers who paid various platforms for the items, a BB official said.
Government authority has already taken multiple steps in the wake of various scandals by dubious e-commerce platforms such as Evaly, E-orange, Dhamaka Shopp-ing, Sirajganj Shop etc.
The cabinet division and commerce ministry have formed a high- powered committee to bring discipline in the e-commerce sector and to resolve the problems in the sector.
Top officials of the e-commerce platforms concerned who are allegedly involved in regularities in the name of online trade with customers concerned are now in jail.
A process is now in final stage to introduce unique business identification numbers (UBINs) in favour of e-commerce platforms soon.
The government has made a move to set up a regularity authority for the country's e-commerce sector, which, experts say, holds high prospects if not squandered.
Commerce ministry recently asked the central bank to supply details about transactions, assets and bank balance of over 40 e-commerce portals.
It also asked the Bangladesh Bank (BB) to find ways to recover money and assets of the errant dotcoms, according to a BB source.
The info has been sought in line with the investigation lists sent by government's different intelligence agencies to the commerce ministry for taking necessary steps.
Recently, the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) has requested the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) to take necessary steps for de-freezing accounts to return the stuck funds with different payment gateways to e-commerce customers concerned quickly.
