Customers  filed a staggering 13,317 complaints against top e-commerce,  ridesharing, food delivery platforms, and Facebook-based businesses in  Bangladesh in the last three fiscal years, official figures showed.

Evaly,  which has come under regulatory scrutiny recently for its business  practices that include offering unusual discounts, has seen the highest  number of complaints among the top 18 online platforms from fiscal year  2018-19 to 2020-21.

About 4,932 complaints were made against the  firm, which accounted for 37 per cent of the total complaints received  against the online platforms, according to the Directorate of National  Consumers' Right Protection (DNCRP).

Many e-commerce companies  don't serve in accordance with the standard, and the gravity of online  customers' plights cannot be measured through the DNCRP data as many  dissatisfied and deceived customers don't file any complaints, according  to industry people.

The most common complaints against the  e-commerce firms are— not getting the right product and delivery on  time. The refund also sees a delay. 

"Once we receive complaints,  we take action after conducting an investigation. Most of the  complaints have been filed against Evaly," said Bablu Kumar Saha,  director-general of the directorate.

Of the complaints, Evaly has settled 4,145 complaints, which is 84 per cent of the total.

"We  have delivered 70 lakh products so far. So, when we compare it with  5,000 complaints, the main picture is clear— the number of complaints is  not very high," said Mahbi Chowdhury, senior vice president of Evaly.

"However,  we are concerned about the rights of the consumers. But the problems  are not only associated with Evaly. There are some other issues related  to supply chain, the coronavirus pandemic, and the payment gateway."

The complaints against Evaly are not new.

Many consumers took to social media, alleging it doesn't deliver products even months after payment was made.

The second-highest number of complaints was lodged against Daraz, a subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba.

There  were 1,029 complaints against the top e-commerce platform during the  three-year period. However, the settlement rate is 92 per cent as it  resolved 945 complaints.

"It is important to recognise that the  number of complaints is only 0.2 per cent compared to the total number  of orders received by Daraz," said Shayantani Twisha, head of public  relations, media and communications at Daraz Bangladesh.

A high  percentage of complaints are filed because the customer is not aware of  the terms and conditions of Daraz, and as a result, they fail to  understand the already established convenient procedure for the  resolution of customer issues, she said.

"In most cases, they  directly make complaints with the DNCRP before raising the issue with  Daraz Customer Care. When a case is being dealt at the DNCRP, the  customers are often satisfied when they are informed about the  conditions of Daraz."

Alesha Mart had the lowest complaint  settlement rate at 10 per cent. It resolved one out of 10 complaints  made at the directorate. It is one of the e-commerce platforms with  which some banks have suspended card transactions.

The settlement  rate of Dhamaka Shopping stands at 26 per cent. The Criminal  Investigation Department has recently written to the Bangladesh Bank to  seize the bank account of the e-commerce company.

Other  e-commerce companies with a lower settlement rate are Falguni (73 per  cent) Adyan Mart (49 per cent), eorange (65 per cent) and Nirapod (56  per cent). Police arrested Nirapod CEO Shahriar Khan for allegedly  embezzling customers' money last week.

According to the directorate, there are some reputed e-commerce platforms with a lower settlement rate.

The number of complaints raised against priyoshop.com was 562, with a settlement rate of around 74 per cent.

Priyoshop.com  serves an average of 1.5 lakh orders per month. "So, 500 complaints in  three years are less than 1 per cent," said Rabiul Islam, head of  strategic growth and partnership of the company.

"However, we would undoubtedly have been happier if the number had been lower."

Foodpanda,  the top food delivery platform in Bangladesh, did not do well when it  comes to addressing customers' grievances as it had a resolution rate of  84 per cent.

Some 269 complaints were made against the company, and it resolved 225 complaints.

"We take every complaint seriously, and try to resolve their issues as fast as we can," the company said in a statement.

Chaldal, the largest grocery delivery platform, sorted out 89 per cent of the 183 complaints during the three-year period.

"We  are ready to resolve every complaint. We deliver 95 per cent of the  orders on the same day or the next day after the orders are placed,"  said Waseem Alim, chief executive officer of the firm.

Uber topped  the list of the firms in terms of resolving complaints, with the  settlement rate standing at 99 per cent, followed by Pathao (96 per  cent).

The other platforms that fared well are AjkerDeal (94 per  cent), Shohoj (92 per cent), Othoba (90 per cent), and Bikroy.com (93  per cent).

DNCRP's Saha said customers had some responsibilities too.

"They  need to be cautious while ordering products online. They should know  about the business policies of the companies," he said, adding that the  directorate had taken various steps to raise awareness among the  consumers.