Evaly must return Tk 241cr or products

Says TCAB

Staff Correspondent: The e-commerce company Evaly has been asked to immediately refund Tk 214 crore taken in advance from customers or supply the products to the customers.
Murshidul Haque, the convener of the Tele Consumers Association of Bangladesh (TCAB), made the demand in a press release sent to the media yesterday afternoon. TCAB has proposed 3 points to protect the interests of the customers.
Murshidul Haque said a gazette was published on July 4 by formulating ‘Digital Commerce Management Guide 2021’. “If the full price of the product has been paid and if the buyer-seller should be in the same city – the product should be delivered within a maximum of five days after getting the purchase order and if it is located in a different city or village – the product should be delivered within a maximum of 10 days,” he said, noting the statement of the gazette.
“But we can see that thousands of orders from customers across the country, including Dhaka, have been left behind for months by various e-commerce companies including Evaly,” TCAB convener alleged.
Murshidul Haque said even after waiting for 1-6 months, nothing is being returned to the customers. Even after going to the offices of the accused organizations and waiting for hours, no results are found. However, as per the ‘Digital Commerce Management Guideline 2021’, the companies have to return the products or money to the customers within 10 days, he added.
He further said as per the recent report given by the Ministry of Commerce, the total liability of Evaly in the investigation of Bangladesh Bank came out to be Tk 407.18 crore. The company received Tk 213.94 crore in advance from customers and the remaining Tk 189.85 crore from merchants.
As per normal rules, Evaly was supposed to have at least Tk 403.70 crore in current assets but only Tk 65.17 crore has remained. They have no whereabouts of the rest of the money.
TCAB has made a 3-point proposal in the interest of the customers in the press release –

1. All e-commerce companies, including Evaly, have to return the products or money to the customers within 10 days as per the ‘Digital Commerce Management Guidelines 2021’.
2. Complaints against e-commerce companies in various government departments, including the Department of Consumer Protection, need to be dealt with expeditiously.
3. To prevent the companies from resorting to any kind of financial irregularities or fraud, the concerned authorities of the government should be monitored regularly and if the allegations are proved, the companies should be brought under exemplary punishment to restore the confidence of the customers.