Hours after a consumer sued eorange for not delivering products against payment, two former owners of the e-commerce platform yesterday surrendered before a Dhaka court which sent them to jail, rejecting their bail pleas.

In another development, the commerce ministry asked eorange to provide it with information on all its assets and liabilities within seven days, said Hafizur Rahman, additional secretary of the ministry.

A notice in this regard was issued by the ministry's Central Digital Commerce Cell in the face of an allegation that consumers were being harassed by the company.

The notice said some consumers complained that they did not receive products from the platform on time despite paying a huge amount of money in advance. The authorities came to know about the matter from the media, it said. 

It is a clear violation of the Digital Commerce Management Guideline 2021, Consumer Rights Protection Act 2009 and Penal Code-1860, the notice said.

The notice asked eorange to gather and provide the ministry with information on the number of customers who were yet to receive products from it despite making payments until July 31.

The ministry also directed the e-commerce platform to provide it with information about the amount of money it took from the customers. Besides, it wanted to know about the amount of money it should pay to suppliers.

The development comes at a time when an increasing number of customers are complaining that they are not getting products even after paying e-commerce platforms in advance.

Of them, Evaly and some others face investigation by various state agencies.

On Monday night, a customer filed the case against eorange with Gulshan Police Station in the capital over embezzling nearly Tk 1,100 crore, alleging the platform was not delivering products purchased since April 28 this year, said Aminul Islam, inspector (investigation) of the police station.

In the case statement, the complainant, Md Taherul Islam, said the products were supposed to be delivered within an agreed period, but it did not happen.

The case was filed against all owners of the platform, including  Sonia Mehzabin, Masukur Rahman, Amanullah, Bithi Akhter and Kauser Ahmed.

The complainant said they were not getting assurance that they would get their money back.

"Confusions have been created over change in ownership [of the company]," said Taherul, who was accompanied by several other eorange customers when the case was filed.

The Daily Star repeatedly tried but could not reach eorange owner Bithi Akhter and Chief Executive Kauser Ahmed for comments over phone and email.

Dozens of other customers also filed complaints against the platform with the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP).

On August 16, customers gathered at the Gulshan office of eorange and later went in front of the house of former Bangladesh national cricket team captain Mashrafe Bin Mortuza, who is a former brand ambassador of the platform.

Mashrafe assured the victims of support.

After the two former eorange owners surrendered before the Dhaka court yesterday seeking bail, Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Abu Bakar Siddique sent them to jail.

Md Mamonor Rashid, a defence lawyer, said two petitions were filed with the court, seeking bail for the couple on the ground that they are not the current owners of eorange.

Talking to The Daily Star, Arifur Rahman, another customer of eorange, said he paid the platform Tk 9 lakh in advance for eight motorbikes. The market value of the motorbikes is about Tk 19 lakh.

"As per the rules of the company, the motorbikes were supposed to be delivered within 25 working days of placing the order. Four months have passed, but I haven't got them," said Arifur.

Asked, Bablu Kumar Saha, director general of the DNCRP, said they would act as per such complaints.