The commerce ministry has written to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to take initiative to defreeze the accounts to return Tk 214 crore that got stuck in payment gateways due to e-commerce companies' failure to deliver products against the payments.

AHM Shafiquzzaman, additional secretary to the commerce ministry and chief of Digital Commerce Cell (DCC), said this at a press briefing after a meeting of the DCC with the senior officials of different ministries, departments and agencies of the government at the commerce ministry office in Dhaka today.

"We are hopeful that the CID will defreeze the accounts soon so that we can pay back the money of the affected consumers and merchants in the shortest possible time," Shafiquzzaman said.

Some 1 per cent or 2 per cent service charges may be applied on the consumers and merchants while disbursing the money stuck up in the escrow payment gateway, the chief of the DCC also said.