Evaly’s Rassel, Shamima among 10 sued over pending delivery

A case has been filed against Evaly's CEO Mohammad Rassel and Chairman Shamima Nasrin among ten officials of the controversial e-commerce platform for failing to deliver product within promised time.

Alamgir Hossain Regan, a lawyer by profession, filed the case with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Begum Mahmuda on Monday (27 September).

Later, the court ordered Khilgaon Police Station officer-in-charge to submit a report, plaintiff Alamgir said today.   

According to the case statement, Alamgir saw a 'Cyclone' offer at 10pm on 30 April and ordered a motorcycle from Evaly on early 1 May. The market price of the bike was Tk1.27 lakh, but Evaly offered it at a discounted price of Tk70,099.

Then, he paid Evaly for the product using "Nagad" app on May 3.

According to Evaly's policy, it was supposed to deliver the bike or refund the money within seven to 45 days, but the company did not take any of the steps in the last 149 days.

On 16 September, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Rassel and Shamima Nasrin during a raid at their Mohammadpur residence in the capital in a case filed with Gulshan police station over allegations of embezzling customers' money.

Earlier on 14 September, the commerce ministry decided to request the home ministry to take legal actions against Evaly for violations of laws and deceiving customers.

In two different submissions to the Commerce Ministry, Evaly informed that they owe Tk311 crore to customers and Tk206 crore to the merchants. However on 17 September, Mohammad Rassel told the RAB that Evaly owes more than Tk1,000 crore to the customers and merchants.  

Evaly got the money in advance payments by luring people with heavy discounts on products on its site and promising delivery in 7-45 days. Buyers, however, are yet to receive the items they ordered.

The refund cheques given to customers bounced because of an insufficient fund in Evaly's bank account.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) wrote to several government organisations seeking related documents on Evaly.