The Commerce Ministry has refused to provide any kind of support to controversial e-commerce platform Alesha Mart to secure a Tk300 crore loan from Bangladesh Bank.
In a letter sent to the platform’s managing director Manjur Alam Sikder on December 15, the ministry instead advised them to apply directly to the central bank, instead of waiting for the ministry to put in a good word on their behalf.
The ministry’s letter was in reply to an application Alesha Mart had sent earlier this month, where the e-commerce platform sought the support of availing the loan for working capital.
The Commerce Ministry cannot provide any such support in availing loans from the central bank, the letter stated.
Alesha Mart officials could not be reached for comments as of filing this report.
In its December 2 letter, Alesha Mart had sought support from the ministry to help clear owed liabilities to customers and continue operating its business.
In their letter, also citing its transactions worth Tk1,400 crore in six months period, the platform claimed it needed a loan against necessary collateral including 3000 decimal land-mortgage for working capital, citing unforeseen problems in its plan to be the market leader by 2030.
The platform suspended its activities on December 1, claiming it was forced to consider security concerns as some people had forced themselves into Alesha Mart’s office, and even resorted to violence.
“We are being forced to make the move as a group of people assaulted some of our staff members. They were not our customers, nor were any payments scheduled for them. We will resume our activities only after adequate security is ensured,” read a post on the platform’s official Facebook page.
Launched on January 1 earlier this year, the subsidiary of Alesha Holdings Ltd claimed that, unlike the rogue e-commerce platforms that were subsidizing products using customer’s prepayment funds, they were depending on the backing of its founder Manjurul Alam Sikder.
According to the application, Alesha Mart claims it has 50,000 employees, 1.3 million app users, and 8000000 orders per month and is confident of overcoming the unseen problem cited.
In a press conference held earlier this year, the founder claimed that subsidization worth several crores of taka was being backed by some of Alesha Group’s profitable ventures, amongst many.
During the press conference, he highlighted that Alesha Mart had subsidized approximately Tk210 crore in six months with non-public fund sources, incurring a turnover of Tk1,100 crore.
The e-commerce platform also claimed back then that it had no pending payments to vendors and after serving 300,000 orders to date, it received only 10 complaints under the Consumer Rights Act, most of which have been settled.
But, according to the Directorate of National Consumers’ Rights Protection (DNCRP), Alesha Mart had the lowest complaint settlement rate at 10%, settling only one complaint so far.
Consumers started filing complaints when, like other pyramid scheme e-commerce platforms, Alesha Mart failed to deliver products after taking advances.
It has been stuck in the loophole of refunds ever since, continuously promising consumers of refunding their money and not keeping up. Even a few weeks earlier, the founder went on Facebook to reassure his customers by promising refunds within 30 January next year.
