There might, after all, be no new law for the e-commerce sector, as per yesterday's meeting of a high-powered committee formed by the government in light of the ongoing fraud in the sector.

The existing laws would most likely be amended to bring the errant sector into line, said AHM Shafiquzzaman, additional secretary to the commerce ministry, who chaired the meeting of the 16-member committee at the secretariat.

"Formulation of a law is a long procedure. So, most of the committee members called for amending the existing laws," he told reporters after the meeting, which was the first of the committee formed on September 27 to recommend the government of measures to protect the interest of consumers and merchants of e-commerce platforms.

Still, a new law is not off the table.

A nine-member sub-committee has been formed to recommend whether a new law is needed or the amendment of the existing laws are enough to protect the interests of the consumers and merchants, he said.

The sub-committee comprised of representatives from the Bangladesh Bank, the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, the Bangladesh Competition Commission, the legislative wing of the ministry of law, justice and parliamentary affairs, the a2i programme of the government, the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services.

The sub-committee is scheduled to submit its report within the next one month, he said.

Meanwhile, the government will strengthen the commerce ministry's digital commerce cell as well as the DNCRP so that consumers can lodge complaints easily and get them resolved.

Shafiquzzaman, however, declined to comment on how the creditors of the fraudulent e-commerce companies would be back or if they would be paid back at all.

The introduction of the payment gateway on June 30 has dramatically brought down incidents of cheating in the e-commerce sector.

"No major cheating incident was reported after that."

In July, the government formulated a Standard Operating Procedure, which has been serving as a guideline for the e-commerce sector, he added.