Business Desk :
In an attempt to sustain its business, digital marketplace Evaly has proposed a three-way agreement between itself, suppliers and financial institutions.
Through a letter sent on Thursday, the e-commerce platform requested Bangladesh Bank to direct payment service providers, banks, as well as mobile financial services, on helping the platform.
A top official of Evaly said that the agreement would help merchants, suppliers and financial institutions to feel safe while also helping expand its business.
“If the proposal is approved, all stakeholders will exhibit interest in doing business with us as they will be assured of getting paid. We have also asked the central bank’s opinion in this regard,” said the official.
Earlier, in an inspection report submitted to the Commerce Ministry in June, Bangladesh Bank said Evaly’s total liabilities stood at Tk407.18 crore.
After receiving Tk213.94 crore in advance from customers and Tk189.85 crore from merchants, the company was expected to have at least Tk403.80 crore in current assets, but it only had Tk65.17 crore.
Following the report, in July, several banks and mobile financial services including Brac Bank, Bank Asia, Dhaka Bank, City Bank, Mutual Trust Bank, Prime Bank, and bKash suspended their transactions with Evaly.
The Ministry of Commerce also asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to file a case against Evaly over the alleged embezzlement of Tk338 crore taken as advance from customers. On the same day, Evaly Managing Director Mohammad Rassel and his wife Shamima Nasrin, the chairman of the e-commerce firm, were barred from traveling abroad by a Dhaka court.
The Commerce Ministry also wrote to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to initiate relevant legal actions against the online marketplace over the reported irregularities. It also issued operational guidelines for the e-commerce sector in response to the growing impact of digital platforms on the current economic progress of the country and the challenges posed by them.
Evaly was also asked to explain its liabilities and its way forward by the ministry to which it sought six months to respond.
However, the platform was given a week by the ministry and another three weeks to respond to its merchants regarding the owed liabilities.
