Writ seeks travel ban on officials of controversial e-commerce firms

A writ petition has been filed with the High Court, appealing government and regulatory bodies to ban the travel of top officials of unruly e-commerce platforms.

Supreme Court lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir on Thursday filed the petition representing 33 consumers of Eorange -- one of the infamous platforms that have scammed consumers and have also been accused of money laundering.

The petition also sought a directive of the High Court on investigating transactions of the vulnerable sector by the authorities to check if the platforms have actually committed the offences.

It also said that regulatory bodies had failed to respond efficiently in safeguarding consumers’ interest and sought a ruling from the court for the regulatory bodies to explain the inefficiency as well as its legality. 

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The writ also sought an explanation on why the regulatory bodies should not be directed to compensate the loss incurred by consumers. 

The petitioners annexed vouchers and purchase orders worth Tk16 crore with the petition which is to be placed in the High Court bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman this week.

The commerce secretary, finance secretary, information secretary, home secretary, Bangladesh Bank governor, WTO cell of the commerce ministry, head of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, and others have been made respondents to the petition.

The petition also sought direction from the High Court on asking the Commerce Ministry to appoint experts in formulating a legal framework to protect consumers of the e-commerce sector.