The commerce ministry has advised the customers of e-commerce platform Evaly to file complaints at the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection or DNCRP if they do not get ordered products.
Merchants, who have unpaid dues, should also take legal action against the firm, said Hafizur Rahman, director general of the ministry’s WTO Cell.
The complaints will help the ministry get a clear picture of how many customers feel cheated, what the problems are and how the liabilities of the company are being created, he said.
The DNCRP has so far recorded 6,757 complaints over Evaly and 4,145 of them have been settles, according to him.
Hafizur briefed the media after a meeting on the situation involving Evaly and some other e-commerce firms on Wednesday. Representatives of the DNCRP, Bangladesh Bank, home ministry, Bangladesh Competition Commission and other relevant agencies were also present.
A central bank investigation found Evaly’s liabilities were over Tk 4.07 billion when the current assets were only Tk 651.7 million on Mar 14. Evaly can pay back just 16 percent of the arrears with the current assets.
The firm took the money from the customers and products from clients promising delivery within maximum 45 days, but it did not deliver after a year and stalled refunds.
The commerce ministry on Jul 19 asked Evaly for details within Aug 1 if it has the rest of the money. And if it does not have the funds, it will have to explain why.
The ministry also asked for details on current state of its dues to the merchants and the undelivered orders.
Evaly missed the Aug 1 deadline and asked for six more months to explain the situation.
After consulting lawyers, the ministry decided to give Evaly three more weeks in line with the law, said Hafizur. A notice is expected to be sent to the firm on Thursday.
The Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating allegation of embezzlement and money-laundering against Evaly.
A court has also slapped overseas travel ban on Evaly Managing Director Mohammad Rassel and his wife Shamima Nasrin, who is also chairman of the firm, as part of the investigation.
Source: bdnews24.com
