Alesha Mart customers give 7-day ultimatum for refunds

Aggrieved customers of the e-commerce site Alesha Mart have demanded the arrest of the company's Chairman Manjurul Alam Sikder and his wife Managing Director Sadia Chowdhury if they fail to refund clients' principal amount within the next seven days.

At a sit-in programme held in front of the Alesha Mart chairman's residence in the capital's Gulshan area on Friday afternoon, the clients urged the government to form a committee with members of the Ministry of Commerce, the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection and the court to facilitate the refund process.

The e-commerce firm arranging two sale campaigns offering lucrative discounts in 2021 collected Tk300 crore from 7,000 customers through advance payments. But, most of these customers did not get their ordered products and the lion's share of their total payments remains stuck.

A customer named Imran Hossain told The Business Standard, "Out of the Tk300 crore, only Tk42 crore was refunded to some clients but the remaining Tk258 crore remains stuck at the payment gateway."

The company issued cheques to clients against the Tk258 crore but those have expired. Hundreds of cheque dishonour cases have been filed so far against the Alesha Mart chairman and MD under the Negotiable Instruments Act. Arrest warrants have been issued but the accused somehow managed to remain out of jail, he said.

"Sometimes, Chairman Manjurul Alam Shikder comes on Facebook live to assure customers of refunds but no one got their money back to date. We are not asking for any donations. We just want our money back," he added.

To resolve the crisis, Alesha Chairman Manjurul Alam Sikder on several occasions wanted to sell the company's shares. Besides, the company tried to avail of bank loans but failed.

The central bank found at least 56 accounts of Alesha Mart with different banks, in which customers deposited Tk2,001 crore. Alesha withdrew Tk1,999 crore from these accounts.