Although Bangladesh Bank has sent a letter to release the money stuck in the e-commerce payment gateways of Bangladesh, the process has stalled due to lack of up-to-date information. The Ministry of Commerce is sending a letter to the police headquarters to know the information.
As a result, officials are yet to say when the refunds will start.
And when and how the money stuck with Evaly will be returned, there is no plan yet. The High Court-appointed management panel is now trying to understand Evaly’s liability and financial picture.
This information has come to light after talking to the officials in charge of managing the Ministry of Commerce, Bangladesh Bank, Evaly.
How much money is stuck?
At a meeting of the e-commerce technical committee of the Bangladesh Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday, it was informed that about Tk 214 crore of customers are stuck in the current payment gateways.
The government has made it a rule to make all transactions through payment gateways from July 1 this year after the Evil incident. As a result, those who have bought any product, the money has been deposited in the payment gateway. The e-commerce company will get the price after delivering the product.
However, in the face of widespread criticism, many institutions, including Evali, closed down in September-October. The money of those organizations is deposited in this payment gateway.
Apart from this, till June 30, customers who have submitted advance for the product to various companies including Evaly are stuck with Tk 36 crore.
Bangladesh’s Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said that the total amount of money they have taken from people and from their suppliers is more than Rs 300 crore. But a preliminary investigation did not find the money in their possession. “
How will the affected customers get their money back?
In mid-December, the commerce ministry sent a letter asking customers to return Rs 214 crore stuck in payment gateways.
The letter said that in the name of the companies against which no lawsuit is pending, the money of the consumers stuck in the escrow service will be refunded.
Then a letter was sent from Bangladesh Bank instructing the payment gateways to release the money.
AHM Safiquzzaman, coordinator of the e-commerce technical committee and additional secretary in the commerce ministry said, We have also taken the vetting of the law ministry. Then sent a letter to Bangladesh Bank. Bangladesh Bank has also directed to return their payment gateway.
He said a meeting of the Commerce Ministry was held on Tuesday on the issue. The meeting was attended by representatives of various parties including Bangladesh Bank, a law enforcement agency investigating e-commerce fraud cases.
CID, SB, DB and other agencies are also investigating the cases. For these reasons, we have decided that a letter will be sent to the police headquarters to find out the case against any organization. After that, the money of the companies with which there is no case will be returned to the customers, ” says Mr. Safiquzzaman.
Customers will have to wait until the case is decided to return the money to the rest of the companies.
The lion’s share of the money stuck in the payment gateway is money from orders to buy products from companies like Evali and Dhamakar, which are the subject of lawsuits and investigations.
Before June 30, customers paid for the purchase of goods at various e-commerce companies, including Evali, but did not receive the product or money. In terms of money, its amount is 36 crore rupees. Officials do not yet know the details of where and how the money is.
Mr. Safiquzzaman says, “We will try to get the money from the commerce ministry through a court decision so that the money can be returned to the customers quickly.” However, in each case (case to case) may have to take different measures.
He hinted that the whole process would take some more time.
