Cabinet division forms 15-member panel for e-commerce sector

Yet another 15-member committee has been formed with the instruction of the cabinet division to protect the interests of the e-commerce consumers and merchants.

AHM Shafiquzzaman, additional commerce secretary and the new chief of the Digital Commerce Cell of the ministry, has been made the chief of the newly formed committee.

"I have already called the first meeting of the newly formed committee on October 18 for taking next action," said Shafiquzzaman, who has been assigned formally as the chief of the Digital Commerce Cell with an additional workforce.

The new committee was formed on Tuesday and it will prepare reports on how to protect the interests of the e-commerce consumers and merchants, according to a circular.

The committee will recommend to the government how to bring all the e-commerce companies under one umbrella and how to safeguard the interests of the cheated consumers and merchants.

It will bring all the e-commerce related ministries, divisions, departments, directorates and other organisations under one digital platform.

Alongside bringing the e-commerce companies under registration and licensing, the committee will also work to assess the assets of some errant e-commerce companies and determining the methods of recovery of money from these e-commerce companies.

Earlier on September 27, the commerce ministry formed a 16-member committee on the transformation of e-commerce companies.

The 16-member committee also formed a nine-member sub-committee on October 5 to recommend whether a new law is needed to be framed or not to streamline the rogue e-commerce companies.

The committee is scheduled to submit its report within the next one month counting from October 5.