Meta, the parent company of Facebook, plans to stop availing services of Httpool, its authorised sales partner in Bangladesh, from July and shift to a model where it will interact directly with advertisers.

"Meta has recently made the decision to standardise their advertiser service model worldwide," Aloke Panikar, regional director for Asia-Pacific at Aleph, the parent company of Httpool, said in a letter to advertisers in Bangladesh recently.

"…and in markets previously covered by an authorised sales partner, Meta will begin working with advertisers directly starting from July 1, 2024," the letter read.

"This means that Aleph will no longer be Meta's authorised sales partner."

The development has created panic among businesses as they apprehend difficulties in ensuring compliance with VAT and tax regulations when advertising directly with Meta.

"As a compliant company, we are worried," Fahim Mashroor, CEO of online job portal bdjobs.com, said.

"Advertising on Facebook with Httpool was easy as they took care of VAT and tax issues and we could pay in taka. Now, how Facebook will handle this remains unknown," he said.

Companies in Bangladesh opt to advertise their products with Meta to drive sales growth due to several key factors.

Meta's platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, boast a vast user base, offering businesses access to a large and diverse audience.

As of April, there were more than 55.6 million Facebook users in Bangladesh, making the country the eighth-largest in terms of audience, according to global data firm Statista.

"We regularly review and adjust how we service clients. We are focused on making this transition as smooth as possible," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to The Daily Star.

Aleph, in the letter to the clients, stated that Meta was currently working with it on this transition.

"During the transition period, we will, together with Meta, do our best to make your use of Meta advertising solutions uninterrupted," it read.

"…we plan to maintain operating your business as usual, and leading up to the transition date, you will hear from both us and the Meta team with resources and information to help you eventually make the change to working with them directly," it said.

"The Ad Account(s) that you have set up with Aleph (Httpool) will automatically transfer to either an advertiser or agency Business Manager after June invoicing is complete," it said.

"This should happen after July 2, 2024, and in the meantime, we recommend, as soon as possible, to update your contact information (i.e. contact name and e-mail address) in Meta's Business Manager via the Business Info Section," it said.

"This will help ensure that Meta is able to reach you directly, with important information about the transition," it said.

Earlier, during the pandemic, the US tech giant roped in digital ad agency Httpool as its authorised sales partner to provide support and market expertise to local businesses and agencies and provide the option for local currency transactions.

Since then, companies and self-employed individuals found it easy to advertise their services and products on the vastly popular social media platform, which was previously a convoluted and opaque exercise.

Httpool's appointment as Facebook's local sales partner also made the National Board of Revenue's task of collecting value added tax easier.

In April last year, Httpool had suspended services after it failed to repatriate funds following government curbs on US dollar outflows for a brief period.