Evaly asked why legal action won’t be taken against it

The commerce ministry has sent a show cause notice to Evaly, asking why legal will action will not be taken against the company in the interests of its clients and merchants and well as in the interests of the digital commerce sector. The minister has also inquired about Evaly’s business methods.

The ministry sent the letter in this regard today, Monday, to the Evaly chairman Shamima Nasrin and managing director Mohammad Rasel. They have been given up till 1 August to reply. The notice asked for explanations regarding six specific points.

1. It was first asked why, till 14 March, Evaly only had a running capital of Tk 650 million (Tk 65 crore) against Tk 4.07 billion (Tk 407 crore) taken from clients and merchants. Did Evaly have the balance amount? If it did, the details were to be provided. If not, a full explanation was required.

2. Till 15 July, what were the liabilities to the clients, what was the position of the products to be provided to the clients in exchange for the payments taken from them, and what were the future plans?

3. Till 15 July, what were the liabilities to the merchants and what were the payments made so far and what were the future plans?

4. How much had Evaly taken from clients from when it started business till 15 July, how much had been paid to the merchants and how much had been paid for administration and other areas?

5. What was Evaly’s business method and how did it plan to overcome the present situation.

6. Was there any business practice or method still prevailing in Evaly that was contradictory to the digital commerce regulations and the digital commerce guidelines? If so, a credible explanation as required.

Along with the show cause notice, the commerce ministry also said that Evaly had been taken advance payment from clients, but was not providing the products in due time. It was not even paying the merchants who were providing the merchandise.

The report sent on 16 June to the commerce ministry by Bangladesh Bank, stated that Evaly had Tk 2.14 billion (Tk 214 crore) in debts owed the clients and Tk 1.9 billion (Tk 190 crore) owned to the merchants. Opposite this, Evaly’s assets amounted to Tk 920 million (Tk 92 crore), of which Tk 650 million (Tk 65 crore) was running capital. This was mentioned in the notice too.

Speaking in this regard to Prothom Alo on Monday, the Evaly MD Mohammad Rasel said, “The time to issue our reply is inadequate, but we have satisfactory answers. Everything has been carried out under an automated system. If a specific time of a few months is given, we can overcome this situation.”