Bangladesh Competition Commission (BCC) yesterday warned e-commerce platforms that punitive measures would be taken over predatory pricing through abuse of dominant positions in the market and anti-competitive practices, including collusion.

The warning came at a meeting organised by the commission with representatives of the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB) and leading digital commerce companies including Daraz Bangladesh, Chaldal, Redx, BoomBoom, BabyNeeds BD, Aladinerprodip and Priyashop.com.

Representatives of Bangladesh Bank, Directorate of the National Consumer Rights Protection and National Security Intelligence were present at the meeting chaired by BCC Chairperson Md Mofizul Islam.

The BCC said the purpose of the meeting was to inform e-commerce platforms about competition laws and take stock of their business models.

The initiative comes amid widespread fraud in the e-commerce sector in recent months that led thousands of customers and merchants to lose hundreds of crores of taka.

Several e-commerce platforms including Evaly, Eorange and Dhamaka Shopping are under regulatory scrutiny on allegation of embezzling money of customers and merchants.

Eorange Founder Sonia Mehjabin and several of its officials have been in jail since their arrest on August 16 on charge of embezzling Tk 1,100 crore of customers.

Evaly Managing Director and CEO Mohammad Rassel and its Chairman Shamima Nasrin were arrested last week on charges of embezzling customers' money.

BCC Chairperson Islam acknowledged that the anti-competitive activities of e-commerce platforms have come to the commission's notice a bit late.

"We will soon start collecting information on e-commerce companies' business models and discounts campaigns. If the market is competitive, then everyone involved with the business will benefit while business will expand," said Islam.

At the event, the BCC cited two provisions, 15 and 16, of the competition act 2012 and warned of legal action for violations.

Companies fixing abnormal purchase or sales prices will face legal action.

The law provides the scope for action against firms that impose, directly or indirectly, unfair or discriminatory conditions related to purchase and sale of goods and services or fix predatory prices to drive out competitors.

"We have been recommended to refrain from giving any offer that hurts competitive environment," Mesbah ul Aziz, head of regulatory affairs, Daraz Bangladesh, told The Daily Star after the meeting.

Abdul Wahed Tamal, secretary general of the e-CAB, urged the government to appoint an instructor at the central e-commerce cell at the Ministry of Commerce. "We also demanded increasing manpower in the cell," he said.