Staff Reporter :
The government has constituted a 16-member committee led by A.H.M Shafiquzzaman, Additional Secretary (IIT), Ministry of Commerce to seek recommendations for enacting a time-befitting digital-commerce law and establishing a powerful regulatory authority to govern the e-commerce sector.
Besides, one representative each from ICT Division, Law Ministry, Post and Telecommunication, Bangladesh Bank, Competition Commission, Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, (DNCRP), a teacher of DU and BUET, WTO Cell FBCCI, President and General Secretary of E-Commerce Association of Bangladesh, President of BASIS, a2i, Barrister Tanjib-ul Alam and Deputy Secretary of the Central Digital Commerce Cell have been included in the panel as members.
The Ministry of Commerce issued an office order in this regard on Tuesday signed by the Mohammad Saeed Ali, Deputy Secretary, of the Central Digital Commerce Cell.
The move comes on the heels of recent fraudulence activities by errant e-commerce platforms such as Evaly, Eorange, Dhamaka Shopping, Sirajganj Shop and others.
The panel will produce recommendations to overcome the unexpected situation arising from the country’s e-commerce business and its way forward within 15-days, formulate a draft law on the operation and control of digital commerce business within two months and make a framework on establishing a digital commerce authority and its working strategy within two months, according to the office order.
“The committee has been formed in line with a meeting held on September 22 to review the current state of digital-commerce. The meeting emphasized the need to establish a time-befitting law and a strong authority to regulate the growing digital commerce,” a Commerce Ministry official told The New Nation yesterday.
Earlier, on Monday government formed a 16-member ‘technical committee’ to create a congenial environment for the country’s scandal-hit digital commerce sector.
