Parcel deliverymen in doldrums

Thousands of parcel deliverymen associated with e-commerce have greatly been impacted by the internet shutdown for more than one week across the country.
Their earnings took a big hit last July as the online-based delivery services were closed for the period.
Job opportunities have been created for the youth following the fast-growing online services like shopping, grocery and ready-made food orders through social media pages like Facebook and WhatsApp.
This helps many of them as an alternative source of income to cope with the economic crisis in the families.
Some 200 courier companies, including Uber, Pathao, and foodpanda, operate delivery services for e-commerce platforms.
Around 200,000 youths all over the country are engaged in parcel delivery. About 150,000 of them are irregular whose income mainly depends on commission, according to the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB).
It means that courier service companies pay a commission per parcel. These commission-based delivery personnel have suffered the most following the shutdown.
Manik Miah joined Pathao Courier as a deliveryman three months ago. Due to a financial crisis, his study stopped in SSC.
He then took a job as a deliveryman and plans to continue his studies by enrolling in Open University.
However, Manik was forced to spend 13 days at home, as all online marketplaces remained closed.
"I can earn around Tk 16,000 per month, but I could not work for almost one and a half weeks."
He said he gets Tk 5,000 per month for office attendance. The rest of his income comes through commission.
"So, I am afraid this income will drop significantly in July," he added.
The mobile internet was stopped on the night of July 17 and the broadband internet was stopped on the night of July 18 amid an ongoing quota protest.
Five days later on July 23, broadband internet connectivity returned to a limited scale. After 10 days on July 28, mobile internet was launched. Facebook and other social media remained closed until July 31.
Manik said he gets Tk 13 to 18 as commission per parcel. On average, he delivers 30 parcels per day.
"I could not work properly even a few days before the internet shutdown following the unrest. I could deliver only 10 parcels per day during those periods as the situation was not favourable for vehicular movements."
"As a result, there was a fall in my income in July. Even I am afraid about my income this month as the situation is not normal yet," he added.
Like Manik, Suman Ali also works for Pathao. His job is to pick up products from traders.
His basic salary is Tk 11,000, and he gets Tk 1 as a commission from every parcel. He can pick up about 7,000 parcels per month from the traders.
This income helps support continuing his two brothers' education.
"I earn about Tk 17,000 to Tk 18,000 per month. But July has been bad for me."
The e-commerce sector suffered losses of over Tk 17 billion in the past 13 days, e-CAB president Shomi Kaiser told a press conference in the capital on Wednesday.
The sector has lost Tk 14 billion in the first 10 days of the blackout.
Small and medium entrepreneurs who rely heavily on Facebook for business are facing the highest suffering, she mentioned.
ATM Tahsinur Rahman is an f-commerce entrepreneur. He has been selling clothes and various leather products on his Facebook page for the past year. "The damage caused to him following the internet shutdown is irreparable."
Every day his sales are Tk 20,000 to Tk 40000. But there was no sale at that time as it is fully internet-dependent. As a result, he is wondering how to pay his staff.
"About Tk 81,000 has been charged by Facebook for advertisements, though there was no sale from my page," he mentioned.
"Now it is uncertain whether this money will be refunded."
As per the e-Cab, 95 per cent of e-commerce sector transactions are still closed due to various reasons, including curfew and security risks.
Jahangir Alam Shovan, executive director at the secretariat of the e-Cab, said e-commerce has suffered a lot in the last one and a half weeks. The normal speed of this business has not come yet. Besides, there is no guarantee that the sector can be run uninterruptedly in this situation.
"We expect full cooperation from the government so that individuals and organisations involved in e-commerce can recoup the losses."
The trade body of online marketplaces and commerce sites sought a six-month grace period for loan repayment and called for the positive branding of the sector internationally.
It also suggested collateral-free loans, no deductions for one-month advertising payments made to Meta, withdrawing a 15-percent VAT on advertisements and waiving licence renewal fees for entrepreneurs.

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