Digital dilemmas complicate online reg for e-commerce startups

Digital Business Identification (DBID) has yet to pay off by way of disciplining Bangladesh's anomalous e-commerce operations as a year elapsed sans outcome of the government's legal move.
The government has made registration mandatory for e-commerce businesses without setting forth any legal obligation for start-ups to obtain the registration, sources say.
Online businesses are not compelled to apply for DBID to avail any services, although some banks are asking for the ID in recent times.
Entrepreneurs need to enter a dedicated website to apply for DBID following 'Digital Business Identification Registration Guidelines' under the 'National Digital Commerce Policy 2020'.
The Office of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC) launched the DBID website with the support of the cabinet division and the aspire to innovate (a2i) project of the ICT division on August 13, 2022.
However, ecommerce business insiders say volumes of rejection of applications have been discouraging entrepreneurs from coming up in business in the worldwide fastest-growing economic sector.
Digital businesses can get the ID free of cost by applying online to the RJSC.
The government launched the scheme on February 6, 2022 with an expectation to help the cheated consumers get recompense and ensure transparency in the electronic commerce.
The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) aims to bring back customer trust that they lost due to fraud in e-commerce businesses.
Zikra Amin, programmer and focal point of RJSC, says lack of awareness, absence of punitive measure, and scattered authorities to manage the ID are the reasons for poor registration of digital business although it holds bounteous economic benefits.
Businesses would not be eligible for government-offered fiscal benefits, in future, for e-commerce sector without having the ID, she said.
"Some banks have started asking for the ID when any e-commerce entrepreneurs seek to open a business account, though it is not made mandatory for availing the services from banks," says Nasima Aktar Nisha, president of Women and e-commerce (WE), who is also Joint Secretary of the E-commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB).
Currently, e-commerce businesses do not face any problem running activity without the ID, she adds.
Ms Zikra suggests that the e-commerce business associations, and the ministry of commerce can arrange trainings to make e-commerce businesses aware of the imperative to get registered by obtaining the ID.
However, e-commerce entrepreneurs complain of complexities and bureaucracy in RJSC in obtaining ID. They say the rejection of applications for simple reasons is making many entrepreneurs shy away from getting registered digitally.
Some alleged reluctance of the officials concerned to approve application without financial benefit though there is no cost or fees to obtain the ID.
Only 13 per cent of their applications get accepted by RJSC, on ground of not providing accurate information or not furnishing data for consumers in Bangla.
A total of 704 DBID certificates have been issued in over a year, out of 5,349 applications, according to latest RJSC data.
Responding to the allegation, Ms Zikra said applicants have to follow the guidelines of DBID application to get the ID.
"RJSC has to scrutinize the applications as per guidelines," she says as one -- and vital one -- reason for rejections.
Entrepreneurs said they found some guidelines difficult to comply with, which needs amendment.
Under the existing guidelines, digital-commerce businesses need to provide customers their terms and conditions on their online sites in Bangla, which entrepreneurs found unjust as they have both local and foreign consumers.
The DBID has been launched to make the existing scattered digital-commerce business disciplined and organized to gain consumer confidence.
"Following huge number of rejections of DBID applications, the association of e-commerce businesses held a meeting recently with the A2i and the Ministry of Commerce to resolve the problem," said Ms Nisha.
The e-commerce association proposed that the application process be simplified by allowing bilingual data, sending SMS and e-mail to the entrepreneurs informing the rejection text, etc, she added.
"Digital-commerce business has both local and foreign buyers so business information should have to be accepted in both languages," she says in her suggestion aimed at breakthroughs in the digital dilemmas.
Md Syed Ali, who supervises the Central Digital Commerce Cell of the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) and deputy secretary of the ministry, says the ministry has taken a decision to accept application for DBID after being confirmed that the entrepreneurs have gone by proper guidelines.
"There would be no rejection after accepting or submitting the applications by entrepreneurs," he said.
It would help save time of the e-commerce businesses who would not require to feel uncertainty after dropping the application, he added.
Ms Nisha said the MoC has agreed to amend the rules to make it simpler and prioritise the applications of e-cab members considering genuine ones.
Zikra said the RJSC is extending support to the applicants to fill-up the applications following proper guidelines, even after rejection of several times.
Scrutinizing the submitted information, the RJSC has to issue DBID certificates within next 60 days.
She said building awareness among the entrepreneurs involved in digital business is also necessary for popularizing digital-business identity.
The DBID scheme aims to prevent different sorts of irregularities and fraudulence in the up-and-coming e-commerce business.
AHM Shafiquzzaman, Director-General of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP), said the DBID would pay off and help track the e-commerce traders in case of fraudulence using facebook pages.
"It is difficult to check facebook-based e-commerce business as those are currently not traceable in case of any allegation raised against the platform," he says.
Jahangir Alam Shovon, executive director of e-CAB, said some 25 per cent of the e-commerce businesses are now facebook-based in Bangladesh, mainly opened by homemakers, students or as a part of part-time activities by some other professionals.
The association leader estimates that there were more than 50,000 active Facebook pages running businesses.
Complaints against e-commerce companies that are piling up at the DNCRP would be reduced and easier to resolve if the businesses have digital ID.
"The consumers will get security in shopping from the e-commerce businesses having DBID," the DNCRP DG said about the merit of the measure in remedying confidence trick (con trick) on consumers by mushrooming shell corporations on the virtual business world.

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