The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has launched a comprehensive digital transformation initiative incorporating AI-based real-time surveillance, encrypted digital cards, a dedicated mobile application, and automated dealer management to ensure transparency in distributing subsidized essential commodities.

The launch ceremony took place on Thursday (September 17) at the TCB conference room in Dhaka, with Minister for Commerce, Industries, and Textiles and Jute Khandaker Abdul Muktadir attending as the chief guest.

Addressing the event, Commerce Minister Muktadir highlighted that supply chains face market volatility due to price gaps between production points and urban retail centers. He emphasized that digitalizing TCB's operational network will eliminate leakages, ensuring direct delivery of government benefits to eligible low-income households while projecting state subsidy savings between Tk 300 crore and Tk 350 crore in the current fiscal year.

Key Technological Features and System Upgrades

TCB Chairman Brigadier General Mohammad Faysal Azad outlined the technical modules driving the modernization drive:

• 'Upokari' Mobile App & Digital Verification: Beneficiaries can now access services via a digital application featuring digitally signed and encrypted QR codes. The system ensures that individuals maintain access to subsidized commodities even if physical cards are damaged or lost.

• AI-Based Real-Time Monitoring: Integrates artificial intelligence tracking to monitor sales volume and distribution across zones in real time, detecting operational anomalies or fraudulent activity instantly.

• All-in-One POS Terminals: Dealers will utilize multi-functional Point of Sale (POS) devices capable of biometric authentication, online payment collection, real-time transaction tracking, and immediate receipt generation.

• Online Dealer Management: Automates dealer registration, document archiving, and payment collection. In cases where applicant volume exceeds quota limits, dealers will be selected through automated digital lotteries.

Database Refinement and Eligibility Overhaul

During the briefing, officials revealed that TCB executed a data-sanitization drive by cross-referencing national identity cards (NIDs) and mobile numbers, removing approximately 5.9 million ineligible applicants from the distribution registry.

The revised verified database currently registers roughly 7.9 million eligible beneficiary families.

The event was attended by Parliamentary Standing Committee Chairman on Commerce Ministry Engineer Khaled Hossain Mahbub Shyamal, Commerce Secretary Md. Ataur Rahman Khan, alongside senior officials from the Commerce Ministry and TCB.