The consumers and merchants who have been the victims of fraudulent business activities by some e-commerce companies but did not file cases will get back their funds soon, a source said yesterday.

The Digital Commerce Cell (DCC), a body under the commerce ministry set up to oversee the growing e-commerce industry after complaints flooded against online shops, is getting ready to pay back Tk 512 crore to the affected consumers and merchants.

"We will be able to make the refund to the consumers and merchants who did not file any cases," said the senior government official, asking not to be named.

The official was present at a meeting of the 15-member committee yesterday.

Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam held the meeting with the officials of the DCC and the representatives of the committee to find out a way to refund the money.

The committee was formed by the cabinet division last month to recover money from the controversial e-commerce companies. It has already discussed with the law ministry on how to refund the money to consumers and merchants who have already sued the firms, according to the official.

Those who have taken the legal measures would have to settle the matter in court, he said.

Of the sum, Tk 214 crore is stuck with the payments gateways.

Since July 1, payment gateways have been keeping advance payments in escrow accounts as per a directive of the central bank.

Escrow is the use of a third party, which holds an asset or funds before they are transferred from one party to another. The third party holds the funds until both parties have fulfilled their contractual requirements.

The remaining Tk 298 crore is recoverable as the fund has been traced, although the transactions took place before the escrow accounts were put in place, said the official.

After several meetings in the last few months, the commerce ministry took the initiative to return the money to the consumers and merchants who made the payment to the e-commerce companies but did not get the delivery of goods.

On November 1, the ministry wrote to the Criminal Investigation Department to unfreeze escrow accounts as soon as possible to pay back Tk 214 crore.

The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit is also working to form a committee so that the money can be returned.

Three intelligence agencies put the number of dishonest online shops that defrauded customers and merchants at 13, 17 and 19, respectively.