No products nor refunds? Go to consumers directorate

The commerce ministry has suggested that customers, who are neither getting deliveries of products nor refunds on time from different e-commerce companies, such as Evaly and Alesha Mart, even after advance payments, lodge complaints with the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection.

The e-commerce companies will have to deliver products to customers within five days after the advance payment is made and the delivery time is 10 days for faraway districts and rural areas. They will refund within 10 days in the case of failing to deliver products on time, as per the e-commerce operation guidelines issued last Monday.

Hafizur Rahman, additional secretary to the commerce ministry and also the chief of the government's central digital commerce cell, told The Business Standard, "The new deadlines will also be applicable to products for those e-commerce companies had taken advance payments from customers before the guidelines took into effect. Now, our advice to buyers, who are not getting products nor refunds, is file a complaint with the Directorate of Consumer Rights Protection as soon as possible."

According to the Bangladesh Bank's inspection report, this year, Evaly did not deliver products against Tk215 crore in advance payments from customers. Moreover, the company owes Tk190 crore to the merchants from whom it bought products. As of March, the company had deposits of Tk2.04 crore in its 10 bank accounts.

Several Evaly customers posted on social media that refund bank cheques they have got from the company are bouncing back as there is no money in its bank accounts. Evaly has also requested such customers not to deposit cheques in banks.

Talking about it, Hafizur said if consumers do not lodge a complaint with the consumer rights protection directorate right now to recover their dues, their getting refunds might become uncertain.

 The guidelines say that if a foreign company wants to engage in e-commerce business in Bangladesh, they must register. The decision came after the e-commerce policy was amended last year to open up the way for 100% foreign investment.

As said in the guidelines, the e-commerce platforms will hand over the products within 48 hours of the advance payment to delivery services and notify the customers via SMS, email or phone calls. In the next 72 hours, the delivery men or companies will supply the items to the clients.   

For purchase with payment in advance, the guidelines said the e-commerce companies must have the displayed items ready to ship – either in their own stock or with the registered third party.  

"If a product is not ready for handover within 72 hours of the payment, the companies will not take more than 10% of the price in advance," said the guideline, adding that a 100% advance payment can be charged in this case only through the Bangladesh Bank's escrow service.

For essentials, the delivery time will be shorter than five days as the e-commerce platforms will have to specify it to the customers while taking the orders. If an essential item order has multiple products, there will be a uniform delivery charge.

But if the essentials come from different merchants, the e-commerce companies then can charge separate delivery fees. In this case, the customer will have to be notified prior to confirming the order. 

Hafizur told TBS that the guidelines will help discipline the e-commerce sector. It will protect buyers as there is a mention of a specific time regarding product delivery and refund. E-commerce companies cannot take more than 10% of prices in advance against products they do not have stocks of. As a result, companies will not have the opportunity to deceive buyers with advance money.

If a company fails to comply with the guidelines, the government will be able to take a number of measures against the defaulter including trade licence cancellation, revoking company registration, banning the online marketplace, and scrapping the value-added tax (VAT) registration.

The guidelines also enable the affected customers to seek legal remedies at the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection and other courts.

There are mounting allegations against some e-commerce ventures including evaly for neither delivering the products nor refunding the customers who had cleared the payments in advance.

The guidelines say, "All types of digital wallets, gift cards, cash vouchers or any other medium which can be used as an alternative to cash cannot be launched, used, bought or sold without the permission of the Bangladesh Bank."

E-commerce companies must have the displayed items in their own stock, or to the registered merchants. Any offer must mention the available stock, and it will have to be updated regularly. 

According to the guideline, if delivery with advance payment is delayed due to an unforeseen and uncontrollable issue, the company will notify the customers. But they must not force the clients directly or indirectly to buy any other product in exchange for the delayed one.     

If the product comes with a discount, free shipping or other facilities, the product description must have those mentioned clearly.

The cashback offers or discounts must be effective just after the sales as the e-commerce companies will not be allowed to keep the cashbacks in their wallets, said the central bank.   

The e-commerce platforms will have to appoint a sufficient number of customer care employees as per the size of their market. The companies will have to record and store the customer complaints, and a complaint will have to be settled within the maximum 96 hours.     

The guidelines say the customers will have to be provided with the printed copy of the bill mentioning the VAT and other charges (if any).

According to the guideline, if a company fails to deliver a product on time, the customers will have to be refunded within the maximum seven days through the same means the advance payment was made. If the refund takes any extra charge, it will be on the company, not on the customer. 

Besides, once the Bangladesh Bank launches escrow services, the payment gateways will make the refunds upon delivery failure or order cancellation by the customers. The advance payments will wait at the gateways, and will enter e-commerce accounts only after the delivery.