Rules afoot for online consumer protection
The commerce ministry will publish a guideline for e-commerce platforms the following month to protect the rights of online shoppers, curb anomalies on payments and refund, and ensure timely delivery.
Under the rule, which was formulated beneath the Digital Commerce Policy 2018, the merchandise must be delivered to customers within a maximum of 10 days.
Regarding advance payments, the amount of money needs to be returned to shoppers within seven days if the platform does not hand over products promptly.
The move comes amid allegations against some e-commerce platforms that the customers are not obtaining the delivery of products or refunds within the promised schedule.
The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection has received a lot more than 5,000 complaints against e-commerce companies within the last one year. Sometimes, products have already been supplied in a year, and the customers have not got the amount of money back.
"Some e-commerce platforms aren't making the timely delivery of products. Many customers do not get the refund properly. This guideline will safeguard the rights of customers," said Md Hafizur Rahman, director-general of the WTO Cell under the commerce ministry.
The ministry held a stakeholder meeting on the draft guideline, which will now be delivered to regulations ministry for vetting.
"We will publish it by the following month," Rahman said.
About advance payment adjustment, the draft said if the shopper makes the payment beforehand through debit and bank cards, bank transfer and mobile banking, the money has to be refunded completely within no more than seven days for just about any delivery failure.
Within 24 hours of the payment for a product, the item should be paid to the deliveryman or delivery company, and the customer must be notified by telephone, e-mail, or SMS.
The delivery must be made within no more than five days when the client and owner are positioned in the same city. Owner are certain to get 10 days to provide the merchandise if the shopper lives in another city.
For daily necessities, the delivery time should be shorter, in line with the draft guideline.
You will have no separate delivery costs for multiple products within a order. "The responsibility to guarantee the product quality and accuracy of the products rests with industry," it said.
A printed copy of the bill should be given at the time of delivery of the merchandise, citing the payment of value-added tax.
For the merchandise that carry a warranty, the card should specify the period, the place of acquiring after-sales services, and contact details.
Perishable goods must be delivered as quickly as possible.
Ratings and feedback on products ought to be posted on websites, programs or platforms in order that potential shoppers can make the purchase decision predicated on the customers' reviews, the draft guideline said.
If it is not possible to hand over the merchandise with the stipulated schedule, the firm must notify the client by telephone, SMS, e-mail or other means within 48 hours of the keeping orders.
Regarding failure to adhere to the provisions of the guideline, authorities might take legal action, including scrapping trade licence, company registration, or VAT registration of owner and banning of the marketplaces.
The guideline also said a platform would not create any virtual wallet without the central bank's permission. Multi-level marketing or network business can't be conducted through digital commerce, it said.
"It has become essential to restore discipline in the e-commerce industry by implementing a proper guideline," said Muhammad Abdul Wahed Tomal, general secretary of the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh.
