The government has asked the central bank to take action against different payment gateways for their non-cooperation regarding making payments to e-commerce companies, said an official at the Bangladesh Bank (BB).
The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) issued a letter to the BB on Sunday in this connection, he added.
The ministry has asked to investigate the current activities and non-cooperation of the gateways, like - Nagad, shurjoPay and aamarPay, regarding payments to the e-commerce companies, as alleged by different companies, and take required measures after the investigation, according to the letter.
Nagad, as a mobile wallet, provides financial transaction services to different e-commerce companies.
Necessary cooperation in paying back stuck funds to the e-commerce customers is not received from Nagad, although other payment gateways are providing expected and timely services, read the MoC letter.
Different e-commerce companies also complained against the platform in this connection. As a result, it is not possible to pay back funds in time to the affected e-commerce customers concerned. Under the circumstance, suspicion has been created about their activities.
Besides, allegations of non-cooperation against shurjoPay and aamarPay were also received. The BB should investigate their current activities. If the central bank finds any irregularities in the investigation, it should take necessary actions against them, it noted.
"We have recently asked the BB to investigate and take steps against alleged non-cooperation by some payment gateways. We hope that the central bank will take stern actions against them if it finds the allegations are true," an MoC high official said.
Meanwhile, 10 crisis-ridden e-commerce platforms, including Qcoom and Alesha Mart, so far refunded around Tk 711 million to their customers from the money that was stuck with different payment gateways and service providers.
rezamumu@gmail.com