Eorange consumers file writ to get their money back

Disgruntled consumers of e-commerce platform Eorange filed a writ petition with the High Court to retrieve their money, which they claimed to have invested in the infamous platform.

They also submitted copies of vouchers and purchase orders worth Tk16 crore with the petition, which will be placed in the High Court bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman later this week.

Supreme Court lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir recently filed the petition representing 33 consumers of Eorange, alleged to have scammed their consumers and have also been accused of money laundering.

According to the lawyer, consumers from different locations had spent lakhs of taka into the platform.

For example, Abdul Barek of Dinajpur's Birampur spent Tk70 lakh to buy products in Eorange; Wahedul Alam of Dhaka's Gulshan spent Tk47 lakh, while Aminul Islam of Pabna's Chatmohar spent Tk40 lakh.

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But none of them received their products, nor did Eorange offer any refunds for failing to deliver the products.

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 offenses.

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.

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

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.

Also Read - Eorange sued for embezzling 1,100C

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.