Amidst reports of various alleged anomalies, especially related to payment and delivery of goods, in the e-commerce sector of Bangladesh, the Ministry of Commerce has recently decided that the country’s central bank will serve as a payment gateway between the buyers and sellers of e-commerce platforms, holding advance payments until products are delivered.

The decision to this end was, reportedly, taken at a recent meeting titled ‘Digital Commerce Direction’, convened by the Commerce Ministry.

After the meeting, Additional Commerce Secretary Hafizur Rahman, reportedly, maintained that the advance payment made to the e-commerce merchants will be kept in the Bangladesh Bank, which it would give to the merchants/platforms after the customers receive their products.

This important meeting convened by the Ministry of Commerce was attended by various stakeholders, including the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB), representatives of the WTO Cell of the Ministry of Commerce, ICT Division, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and the National Board of Revenue (NBR).