The commerce ministry yesterday cancelled the executive council election of BASIS for 2018-2020 on grounds of procedural errors in the schedule. It was scheduled to be held on March 31.

The ministry has also extended the tenure of the existing executive committee of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) by six months, said Syed Almas Kabir, president of the association.

The BASIS was also ordered to prepare a new election schedule, Kabir said, who is also the leader of a panel of nine candidates of the election.

The BASIS panel along with its lawyer and election commissioner yesterday went to discuss the issue with the commerce and ICT ministers, as part of effort to hold the election on the scheduled date, said SM Kamal, the election commissioner.

The highest trade body of digital businesses in the country, the BASIS earlier brought some changes to its guideline, where the ministry's approval was required to implement it, according to a letter signed by Sayeda Nahida Habib, a deputy secretary of the commerce ministry.

But BASIS announced the election schedule without getting the go-ahead for the change, which prompted the ministry to cancel the schedule, the letter reads.

Earlier, a director along with 11 members of the BASIS has also applied to the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC) and urged it to cancel the election.

The sole authority which facilitates formation of companies, the RJSC then informed its trade organisations' wing about the issue, which took the final decision of cancelling the election.

Earlier, the BASIS twice declared election dates last year on July 8 and December 28, but failed to organise it.

This year, 31 candidates submitted nominations for nine posts. Five of them are independent and the rest from three panels.