Customers stage sit-in protest in front of E-orange office in Gulshan

Around 50 customers staged a sit-in protest in front of the office of controversial e-commerce platform E-orange on Wednesday.

On information, a team of Gulshan Police Station rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control after talking to the agitating protesters.

At that time, the officer-in-charge of Gulshan Police Station talked with the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the e-commerce platform over a video call who affirmed that the management team will arrange a meeting with the agitating customers on 16 August.    

Later, police removed the protesters from the area around 2.30pm.

The protesters gathered in the area at 9.30am following the Facebook post on 7 August that urged customers not to pay heed to rumours about the change in company address and its management committee.

The office space was reportedly found empty when a staff of the company opened the door at 10am today.

None from E-orange talked to the protesting customers as of filing the report till 3pm.

Last night, an update was posted on the company's Facebook page citing that the list of suspended delivery orders will be published on 16 August and the delivery will resume from 17 August. Moreover, customers will be informed about their respective delivery dates via SMS.

The customers, however, deemed the claim as just another delaying tactic while fearing a fresh lockdown order from the government amid the deteriorating pandemic situation in the country.
 
Tanvir Kalam, one of the protesting customers, said, "The e-commerce company was supposed to deliver the April order – for which they sold vouchers – in the month of May. Upon their failure to follow suit, the management started to procrastinate and make excuses for the delay. 

"Later, on 3 August they posted an apology notice on their Facebook handle saying that the delivery will not be possible on 6 August as scheduled owing to the lockdown extension."

Another protesting customer Md Ataullah Arzu told TBS, "We are planning to file a case against the company if they fail to keep their words regarding the delivery of products on 17 August."

Amid the back and forth, the company made a surprising announcement over their change in ownership. As per their official notice posted on E-orange Online Shop Facebook page, someone called Bithi Akter was named the new owner of the company.

Allegedly, the previous owner Sonia Mehjabin has left the country.  

Although the government has relaxed the virus restrictions and asked to reopen all government and privates offices from 11 August, all the activities of E-orange's Gulshan office remained closed.

According to a former staff contacted by the agitating customers, employees of the c-commerce platform stopped working as their salary has been stuck since last month. He claimed not to know anything about his job status and the change in ownership.

Earlier, a number of leading banks and a mobile banking service temporarily suspended the use of their cards for transactions with 10 e-commerce sites, including E-orange, after the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) of the central bank sought bank account details of the e-commerce merchants.