Currently, the number of e-commerce and f-commerce companies in the country is more than three lakh. However, out of which only 1,496 are registered. The remaining 298,000 companies are not registered. These unregistered companies are ordering and delivering millions of products every day. In return, the government is not getting any revenue.
Unregistered institutions are illegally taking money from customers through mobile banking, with the amount of illegal transactions amounting to at least Tk 50,000 crore. As a result, in addition to losing revenue, customers are also being cheated.
There are also allegations of money laundering against e-commerce companies. Already, information about laundering of more than Tk 661 crore from 8 companies has been revealed. These companies include Anander Bazar (Tk 300 crore), E-Orange (Tk 232 crore), Dhamaka (Tk 116 crore), Ring ID (Tk 37 crore 49 lakh), Twenty-Four Ticket Limited (Tk 4 crore 44 lakh), SPC World (Tk 1 crore 17 lakh), Sirajganj Shop (Tk 4 crore 9 lakh), Akashnil.com (Tk 3 crore). The CID has filed a case against these companies.
These facts have emerged in a special report by the Special Branch (SB) of Bangladesh Police. The report was recently submitted to the Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and recommendations were made to take necessary measures to prevent revenue evasion.
In this regard, a senior NBR official told Daily Industry, “Online shopping is constantly increased ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Adha and Pahela Baishakh. Fraudsters are deceiving us with new tricks. We also receive information and data at different times. The NBR will seriously consider the report sent by the Special Branch of the Police.”
According to estimates by commercial firm Research and Market.com, the e-commerce market in the country could reach Tk 1.5 trillion by 2026. Currently, there are about 130 million internet users in the country.
According to e-cab data, about 6-7 lakh deliveries are made every day. Each delivery carries an average transaction of Tk 1,400, of which 25 percent of the market is occupied by Facebook entrepreneurs. Currently, there are about 500,000 e-commerce entrepreneurs in the country.
According to the SB report, there are about 100 million Facebook users in the country, of which 10 percent or 10 million users are engaged in e-commerce or online ordering or services. There are about 350,000 Facebook pages that do business on Facebook and Instagram, of which 95 percent are small entrepreneurs, 4 percent are medium and 1 percent are large organizations.
According to Bangladesh Bank’s calculations, about Tk 5,142 crore was legally transacted in the e-commerce sector in the country in 2020. In 2024, the transaction stood at Tk 21,112 crore. However, if illegal transactions are taken into account, it will exceed Tk 50,000 crore.
Intelligence reports indicate that there are more than three lakh e-commerce sites and Facebook-based f-commerce businesses in the country. However, only 1,496 companies are registered with the Digital Business Identification System (DBID), while the rest are not registered. Millions of products are being ordered and delivered through these companies every day, resulting in the government losing crores of taka in revenue annually.
Despite the increasing interest in e-commerce and f-commerce businesses, some activities and frauds have led to increased customer frustration. Fraudsters are deceiving customers through various techniques, such as creating fake sites and not delivering products, taking money in the name of delivery charges, and delivering low-quality products by showing pictures of high-quality products.
The report said that as per the Digital Commerce Management Guidelines, 2021, it is mandatory to obtain at least one registration of trade license, VAT registration, e-TIN, Personal Retail Account (PRA) or Digital Business Identification System (DBID) to operate digital commerce in the country. In addition, the registration must be displayed on the marketplace or social media page. However, most of the e-commerce sites and Facebook pages do not display these registrations. As a result, consumers are being cheated by buying products from fake and fraudulent sites.
The report mentioned that after the investigation, the CID has filed cases against eight e-commerce companies. A total of Tk 661.51 crore was laundered abroad through these companies.
Cheating tactics
The report highlights some of the fraud techniques used on e-commerce and f-commerce sites. These include fake reviews on Facebook pages and IDs, artificially increasing likes and comments, using promotional influencers and celebrities in exchange for money to create promotional videos or images. These techniques attract customers and create opportunities for fraud.
In addition, fake NID or birth registration card images are sent to gain customer trust. SIMs registered in other names are used on WhatsApp, due to which law enforcement agencies cannot identify fraudsters. Most of the companies doing business through Facebook pages are not registered. F-commerce companies illegally use mobile banking or MFS for transactions, due to which the amount of fraud is increasing.
Intelligence monitoring
Intelligence observations have revealed that dishonest officials of mobile phone operator companies and SIM selling companies are providing SIMs registered in other names, which is becoming effective for fraudsters. This makes it difficult to identify the real culprit by analyzing the CDR and registered SID.
Recommendation
The report has made seven recommendations to prevent fraud and revenue evasion in e-commerce and f-commerce businesses. Among themare identifying unregistered e-commerce sites and f-commerce pages and ensuring mandatory DBID registration, enacting a comprehensive law to manage digital commerce, introducing ‘escrow’ services for all digital commerce transactions, and reducing MFS company charges for registered e-commerce and f-commerce.
