E-commerce firms asked to apply for digital business ID by 28 Sep
Registration is free up to one year, fees to be charged thereafter
All existing digital commerce companies will have to apply for digital business identification within 28 September.
Without digital business ID, companies will not be allowed to run their businesses on any digital platform, per a digital business ID registration guideline issued by the Ministry of Commerce.
SME Foundation organised an online workshop on "Digital Business Identity (DBID) Registration" Tuesday (19 July).
Chairperson of the foundation, Dr Md Masudur Rahman, attended as chief guest while Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce Hafizur Rahman was the guest of honour, reads a press release.
Around 95 entrepreneurs participated live in the webinar while 150 others participated through Facebook live from the foundation's official page.
The keynote speech was presented by Managing Director of SME Foundation Md Mofizur Rahman.
He said, "In light of the National Digital Commerce Policy 2018 and National Digital Commerce Management Guidelines 2021, the Ministry of Commerce has issued the Digital Business Identity (DBID) Registration Guidelines on 29 June this year.
"It was announced in June that every digital commerce company will have to apply for digital business identification within 90 days of the issuance of the guidelines.
"Existing e-commerce entrepreneurs cannot operate online business without DBID. New businesses have to apply for DBID by creating a social media page or a website. The DBID number will be unique and auto-generated," he stated.
"The aim of DBID registration is to ensure transparency and accountability of digital commerce organisations, to prepare a list of e-commerce businesses and to recognise such organisations that comply with existing laws," he added.
He announced that the registration is free up to one year, adding that the government plans to charge a registration fee thereafter.
The guest of honour Hafizur Rahman said that online businesses are being conducted through more than 2,500 websites and nearly 3 lakh Facebook pages, most of which are led by women-entrepreneurs.
"The initiative aims to bring all businesses under one database," he said, adding that it will be easier to gain the trust of customer if DBID is obtained.