Publish : 11 Dec 2021, 06:35 PMUpdate : 02 Feb 2022, 06:13 PM
In a letter to the Commerce Ministry, Alesha Mart has requested its Digital Commerce Cell (DCC) of the Commerce Ministry to help secure a Tk300 crore loan from the Bangladesh Bank by putting in a good word for the controversy-ridden e-commerce platform.
Confirming the matter to Dhaka Tribune, Md Hafizur Rahman, director general at WTO Cell of the ministry, said: “We have received the letter, but are yet to make a decision regarding the matter, which will also need the ministry’s approval.”
The e-commerce platform, which halted its operations last week citing security reasons, is now claiming that it needs funds to run its operations.
Launched on January 1 earlier this year, the subsidiary of Alesha Holdings Ltd claimed that unlike the rogue e-commerce platforms that were subsidizing products using customer’s prepayment funds, they were depending on the backing of its founder Manjurul Alam Sikder.
In a press conference held earlier this year, the founder claimed that subsidization worth several crores of taka was being backed by some of Alesha Group’s profitable ventures, amongst many.
During the press conference, he highlighted that Alesha Mart had subsidized approximately Tk210 crore in six months with non-public fund sources, incurring a turnover of Tk1,100 crore.
The e-commerce platform also claimed back then that it had no pending payments to vendors and after serving 300,000 orders to date, it received only 10 complaints under the Consumer Rights Act, most of which have been settled.
But, according to the Directorate of National Consumers' Rights Protection (DNCRP), Alesha Mart had the lowest complaint settlement rate at 10%, settling only one complaint so far.
Consumers started filing complaints when, like other pyramid scheme e-commerce platforms, Alesha Mart failed to deliver products after taking advances.
It has been stuck in the loop-hole of refunds ever since, continuously promising consumers of refunding their money and not keeping up.
Even last week, the founder went on Facebook to reassure his customers by promising refunds within 30 January next year.
Earlier, Alesha Mart also claimed that they are not delaying refunds on purpose but that a good amount of their money is stuck with the payment gateway services.
Talking to Dhaka Tribune, an official of the e-commerce platform said: “The payment gateways are not releasing the money even after we are providing them with the delivery confirmation.”
The official said that due to this, they are not being able to provide refunds to many consumers.
He further said that when they started to manage refunds from other sources, the payment gateway SSLCommerz also approved some of the refunds, and as a result, some of the consumers ended up getting a double refund.
Furthermore, according to the central bank’s intelligence unit which has been keeping tabs on the e-commerce platform alongside other bodies such as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the company now has only Tk2.07 crore in its frozen accounts.
As per the report from November 8, Alesha Mart withdrew Tk1,999.2 crore of the Tk2,001.28 crore deposited in its accounts since its inception.
Meanwhile, as per Alesha Mart itself, it still has around 7,000 pending orders worth Tk200 crore which could be higher.
As per a published delivery list by the platform of around 45,000 motorcycles ordered in its last campaign that ended in late June, more than half of the products were still undelivered which is worth several hundred crores of Taka.
What's in that letter?
In their letter to the Commerce Ministry on December 5 seeking support, Alesha Mart citing its transactions worth Tk1,400 crore in six months period, claimed it needs a loan against necessary collateral including 3000 decimal land-mortgage for working capital, citing unforeseen problems in its plan to be the market leader by 2030.
According to the application, Alesha Mart claims it has 50,000 employees, 1.3 million app users, and 8000000 orders per month and is confident of overcoming the unseen problem cited.
Speaking to Dhaka Tribune, e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh’s (e-CAB) Vice-President Shahahab Uddin said: “They are registered with the association and we have taken every step from issuing show cause to seeking explanations which they have not responded to, against complaints we received from consumers. They have been previously claiming to issue refunds but that data needs verification.”
None of the officials of Alesha Mart could be reached over the last several days till the writing of the report although some officials have seen the message and not replied over Whatsapp.
Alesha Mart seeks 300C govt loan as operational capital
The e-commerce platform, which halted its operations last week citing security reasons, is now claiming that it needs funds to run its operations
In a letter to the Commerce Ministry, Alesha Mart has requested its Digital Commerce Cell (DCC) of the Commerce Ministry to help secure a Tk300 crore loan from the Bangladesh Bank by putting in a good word for the controversy-ridden e-commerce platform.
Confirming the matter to Dhaka Tribune, Md Hafizur Rahman, director general at WTO Cell of the ministry, said: “We have received the letter, but are yet to make a decision regarding the matter, which will also need the ministry’s approval.”
The e-commerce platform, which halted its operations last week citing security reasons, is now claiming that it needs funds to run its operations.
Launched on January 1 earlier this year, the subsidiary of Alesha Holdings Ltd claimed that unlike the rogue e-commerce platforms that were subsidizing products using customer’s prepayment funds, they were depending on the backing of its founder Manjurul Alam Sikder.
In a press conference held earlier this year, the founder claimed that subsidization worth several crores of taka was being backed by some of Alesha Group’s profitable ventures, amongst many.
During the press conference, he highlighted that Alesha Mart had subsidized approximately Tk210 crore in six months with non-public fund sources, incurring a turnover of Tk1,100 crore.
The e-commerce platform also claimed back then that it had no pending payments to vendors and after serving 300,000 orders to date, it received only 10 complaints under the Consumer Rights Act, most of which have been settled.
But, according to the Directorate of National Consumers' Rights Protection (DNCRP), Alesha Mart had the lowest complaint settlement rate at 10%, settling only one complaint so far.
Consumers started filing complaints when, like other pyramid scheme e-commerce platforms, Alesha Mart failed to deliver products after taking advances.
It has been stuck in the loop-hole of refunds ever since, continuously promising consumers of refunding their money and not keeping up.
Even last week, the founder went on Facebook to reassure his customers by promising refunds within 30 January next year.
Earlier, Alesha Mart also claimed that they are not delaying refunds on purpose but that a good amount of their money is stuck with the payment gateway services.
Talking to Dhaka Tribune, an official of the e-commerce platform said: “The payment gateways are not releasing the money even after we are providing them with the delivery confirmation.”
The official said that due to this, they are not being able to provide refunds to many consumers.
He further said that when they started to manage refunds from other sources, the payment gateway SSLCommerz also approved some of the refunds, and as a result, some of the consumers ended up getting a double refund.
Furthermore, according to the central bank’s intelligence unit which has been keeping tabs on the e-commerce platform alongside other bodies such as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the company now has only Tk2.07 crore in its frozen accounts.
As per the report from November 8, Alesha Mart withdrew Tk1,999.2 crore of the Tk2,001.28 crore deposited in its accounts since its inception.
Meanwhile, as per Alesha Mart itself, it still has around 7,000 pending orders worth Tk200 crore which could be higher.
As per a published delivery list by the platform of around 45,000 motorcycles ordered in its last campaign that ended in late June, more than half of the products were still undelivered which is worth several hundred crores of Taka.
What's in that letter?
In their letter to the Commerce Ministry on December 5 seeking support, Alesha Mart citing its transactions worth Tk1,400 crore in six months period, claimed it needs a loan against necessary collateral including 3000 decimal land-mortgage for working capital, citing unforeseen problems in its plan to be the market leader by 2030.
According to the application, Alesha Mart claims it has 50,000 employees, 1.3 million app users, and 8000000 orders per month and is confident of overcoming the unseen problem cited.
Speaking to Dhaka Tribune, e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh’s (e-CAB) Vice-President Shahahab Uddin said: “They are registered with the association and we have taken every step from issuing show cause to seeking explanations which they have not responded to, against complaints we received from consumers. They have been previously claiming to issue refunds but that data needs verification.”
None of the officials of Alesha Mart could be reached over the last several days till the writing of the report although some officials have seen the message and not replied over Whatsapp.
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