The Commerce Ministry on Wednesday handed over Tk20.68 lakh to consumers of rogue e-commerce platforms Dalal Plus, AjkerDeal, and Anonder Bazar.
These customers had not received products even after paying the online shops in advance.
The Central Digital Commerce Cell (CDCC) of the ministry refunded the money to 30 disgruntled consumers.
Of them, 10 customers of Dalal Plus received a total of Tk9.07 lakh, 10 of AjkerDeal got Tk5.46 lakh, and another 10 customers of Anonder Bazar got Tk6.05 lakh.
Last week, the ministry also handed over an additional Tk16 lakh to customers of e-commerce company Dalal Plus, which was stuck with the payment gateway SSL Commerz.
According to sources at the ministry, it was able to recently trace the money deposited by consumers of the platforms back to payment gateways.
The Commerce Ministry found Tk36 lakh of Anonder Bazar customers, and Tk22 lakh of Bangladesh Deal, scattered across several payment gateways, and investigation is still going on to find more stuck payments, along with Tk1 crore of Tholay customers, and Tk9.5 lakh of Wecoom customers.
The central bank, on the other hand, traced 10 bank accounts in the name of Anonder Bazar, which held some Tk280 crores until October of last year but currently has only Tk22 lakh.
On the other hand, Bangladesh Deal was found to have three bank accounts which had Tk55.98 lakh deposited, but the company had withdrawn Tk55.36 lakh.
AHM Shafiquzzaman, chief of the CDCC, following the refund disbursal, said all e-commerce companies will have to start refunding money to affected customers by March 31, otherwise, they will have to face stern actions from the government.
The ministry is set to take a much harder stance from next month against e-commerce companies that took money in advance from consumers but failed to deliver products or return their money.
If such companies do not willingly report themselves to the ministry within March 31, the owners of the accused companies may face jail time.
"We will take a hardline approach towards owners of companies who do not establish goodwill with us after March 31. If they fail to establish a dialogue within the stipulated time, they will not be able to hide anywhere within the country, and will be put behind bars," the ministry official said last week.
Shafuquzzaman further said the ministry will try to work with those who respond to the call and are willing to return the money owed to consumers.
However, customers will have to be patient, as it is not something that can be fixed in just 10 days, as there are a multitude of complexities that need to be addressed.