Online purchases are getting costlier as courier companies in the country have collectively raised their fares in response to the recent increase in fuel prices.
For example, the country’s top two courier and logistics service providers — eCourier and Paperfly — have already raised their charges by around 20 per cent in the face of higher transport costs.
The move could further impede growth in the e-commerce sector, which was already slow due to the scams that surfaced last year coupled with the ongoing inflation.
“We have increased the delivery charge for large and long-haul deliveries by 20 per cent considering the hike in fuel prices,” said Biplob G Rahul, founding chief executive officer of eCourier.
As the increased charge will be levied on end consumers, this means that an item that previously cost about Tk 100 including the delivery fee will now be priced at about Tk 140.
Similarly, the document delivery charge is now Tk 35 to Tk 40 while it was Tk 25 earlier.
“This will directly affect the online shopping industry,” he added.
He went on say that if courier companies like his do not increase their charges, they will have to burn through huge amounts of cash and ultimately suffer within six months for having bear the added cost.
Rahath Ahmed, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Paperfly, said the spike in fuel prices pushed up delivery costs and that is why they have had to raise the delivery charge as well.