Five months after the introduction of the digital business identification (DBID) number, the Commerce Ministry has issued guidelines regarding the registration process.
“The guideline aims to help recognize digital commerce platforms and entrepreneurs as valid business entities,” sources at the ministry told Dhaka Tribune.
The source further said that all e-commerce businesses which include Facebook-based businesses will have to register, and will not be allowed to operate without DBID, as per rules set by the ministry.
As per the issued guideline, a DBID can be availed even without a trade license given that the entity has an official website or social media page.
Furthermore, any e-commerce or f-commerce platform can now obtain a DBID number using the company chairman's national identification number.
Businesses will have to apply to the office of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC) which will first verify whether a company’s name already has an existing DBID or is the same name as any other company, as it has to be unique for every company.
Applicants must display the terms and conditions of their digital business in Bengali on their website.
The guideline also made it mandatory for online businesses to show their registered DBID number on their official website or social media page.
The Commerce Ministry said the existing entities which are running digital commerce businesses will have to apply for DBID within 90 days of the publication of the guideline.
However, entrepreneurs and businesses of the sector think the DBID can be used in other ways to help the businesses of the sector.
E-commerce entrepreneurs just last week had urged the government to provide them with bank loans considering DBID instead of trade licenses.
"Many e-commerce and F-commerce entities have no trade license and they don't have the access to finance. The DBID should be used as a substitute for a trade license," said AKM Fahim Mashroor, the CEO of AjkerDeal.
"Bangladesh Bank can issue orders for this to accept DBID as replacement of trade license for the e-commerce and f-commerce sites," he added.
He spoke in the first of a series of e-commerce policy dialogues at Sonargaon hotel in the capital.
The Commerce Ministry introduced DBID for digital businesses in the country in February to check irregularities in the sector which is expected to grow exponentially.
For the past few years, Bangladesh's e-commerce business expanded rapidly, with women entrepreneurs increasingly starting their online-based small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Bangladesh has been reported to currently have 2,500 e-commerce sites and a huge number of unofficial online shops run by women selling items worth over $2 billion, making it the 46th largest country in terms of e-commerce sales globally.
The sector saw at least 100,000 new entrepreneurs joining the online market, and 98% of all the e-commerce sellers have been playing by the book.
“We estimate that the valuation of the sector in 2021 might have crossed Tk20,000 crore (about $2.32 billion). By 2023, the market is predicted to reach a size of $3 billion,” E-commerce Association of Bangladesh (eCAB) Vice President Shahabuddin told Dhaka Tribune.
