The liabilities of the e-commerce platform Evaly toward its customers and merchants, as of the middle of last month, stood at Taka 543 crore, which is around 35 per cent higher than that found by Bangladesh’s central bank, Bangladesh Bank, in its initial probe.
Media reports maintained this adding, in March, Bangladesh Bank found Evaly’s dues were Taka 404 crore including Taka 214 crore liabilities to customers as of the middle of that month (March) even as Evaly shared the latest details with the central bank recently, which put the amount at Taka 543 crore.
As per reports, Evaly, in its filing — earlier the Commerce Ministry asked the firm to explain the whereabouts of around Taka 338 crore that it owed to customers and merchants even as Evaly stated it would file its liabilities to customers and the number of customers by 26 August and to merchants by 2 September, and a time-bound plan to clear the dues — estimated its intangible asset to be worth Taka 438 crore, including a brand value of Taka 422 crore (it estimated the brand value by taking into account the amount equal to its expenditure) even if Additional Secretary of the Commerce Ministry and head of the e-commerce desk, Hafizur Rahman, added, “The e-commerce company showed Taka 105 crore as tangible assets and the remaining as brand value and other assets.”
It may be mentioned here that Evaly came under the scanner recently amidst growing allegations of delayed deliveries against advance payments by customers even as owing to the complaints from the customers, the Commerce Ministry in July recommended the state agencies, including the Anti-Corruption Commission, to investigate the allegations of embezzlement or transfer of Taka 338 crore, levelled against the e-commerce platform.
