AHM Safiquzzaman, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, said that a public notice will be issued to return the money to the customers who are stuck in various e-commerce establishments. He said the hearing would be held after giving public notice. At the end of the hearing, the money will be returned to the customer’s wallet.

Safiquzzaman was speaking at the end of the fourth meeting of the technical committee set up to resolve consumer or vendor grievances and technology problems caused by digital commerce transactions held at the secretariat on Thursday.

The organization of e-commerce organizations is the E-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (ECAB). Safiquzzaman said IQAB has been asked to provide the list within seven days, adding that even if they do not provide the list, the money will be refunded to the customers’ wallets.

So far, more than Rs 83 crore has been returned to the payment gateways of 12 e-commerce companies, said Safiquzzaman. He said that out of this, one or two organizations have communicated positively. It so happened that some people got lost after contacting us. IQAB has been asked for a complete list of those organizations. IQAB will check and sort the list, which will then be handed over to the police by the Ministry of Commerce.

Regarding Ivali, Safiquzzaman said, “I saw in the news that the chairman of Ivali has been released on bail. We don’t know about Evali. The committee that is, they will do. Ripon Mia, CEO of Cucom, has also been released. Cucom’s money is stuck in Foster Corporation. The money stuck with Ripon Mia will be released.