Despite having immense potential of e-commerce industry in the country, the sector is facing crisis of consumer confidence due to various reasons, said speakers at a meeting.
They said the government has taken the issue in serious consideration and in order to overcome this crisis, the Ministry of Commerce will provide unique identification numbers for e-commerce companies.
The comments were made in a meeting of the FBCCI's Standing Committee on E-Commerce on Thursday at the FBCCI office .
Shomi Kaiser, Director of FBCCI and in charge of the committee, also president of E-Cab, while addressing the meeting, said e-commerce businesses have bloomed during the Covid pandemic and generated thousands of employment. However, in some isolated cases, the image of e-commerce has been tarnished.
She said expressing concern in this regard, the Standing Committee of FBCCI has decided to work to overcome this situation and create new entrepreneurs.
A Complaints Management Cell will also be formed soon under the supervision of the directorate of national consumer Rights Protection. All These initiatives will soon regain the consumers' trust on e-commerce, Shomi Kaiser added. She mentioned that a roadmap for one year would be drawn up by the standing committee for the development of the overall e-commerce ecosystem.
Speaking as the chief guest at the meeting, FBCCI President Md. Jashim Uddin said that in order to create sustainable e-commerce, entrepreneurs in this sector must ensure institutional transparency and accountability and compliance.
In his speech, the FBCCI Chief recommended establishing effective monitoring of E-Commerce. Effective supply chain in E-Commerce will help harness the potentials of this sector, he added.
FBCCI Senior Vice President Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu said that in order to restore confidence in e-commerce, it is necessary to formulate specific policies in this sector.
Presiding over the meeting, the Chairman of the Standing Committee TIM Nurul Kabir said that, lack of bank loans, poor penetration of cards, over-reliance on cash on delivery and absence of cross-border e-commerce policies are some of the major challenges facing the business.
In the open discussion, the co-chairmen and members of the committee complained that the Ministry of Commerce has not yet made the digital commerce cell fully functional and also it is yet to fix who will monitor the SOP in E-commerce.
The speakers demanded tax relaxation till 2030 and to include e-commerce in government procurement till 2030.
Also present at the meeting were FBCCI Director Amzad Hussain, Secretary General Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque, Standing Committee Co-Chairmen Mohammad Abdul Haque, Mohammad Sahab Uddin, Mostafizur Rahman Sohel, Zia Ashraf, M Rashidul Hasan and others members.
