In keeping with the new guidelines by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) allowing increased activity in orange and green zones, a few e-commerce websites on Monday began taking orders again for non-essential items.
Amazon India published a disclaimer on their home page saying, “We are now delivering all products to many locations. Please sign-in to see what we deliver to your area.” For those who were logged in and whose addresses are in orange or green zones, the disclaimer reads “We are now delivering all products to your location”.
The company also said that existing orders would begin to be shipped.
“We welcome the Government’s decision to allow ecommerce in Orange and Green Zones to serve people safely with products that they need and have not been able to access due to the lockdown. Our foremost priority is to ensure to safety of our customers, employees, and partners, and we will continue to join efforts to fight against the pandemic by serving people in the safety of their homes with products they need and help in social distancing efforts to keep India safe,” the company said.
However, Amazon India had a disclaimer saying return pickups have been temporarily paused, as well as the movement of already picked-up items, to “prioritize serving your most important needs of essentials’” adding that pick-up and in some cases refunds of some it ems could be delayed.
The Paytm app had an announcement saying “WE ARE OPEN! According to Govt. Directive, we are delivering all products in Green and Orange Zones, and only essential products in Red Zones.”
Flipkart and Snapdeal have also reportedly resumed deliveries of non-essential products. In addition, logistics provider Shiprocket tweeted saying they had commenced shipping of non-essential items.
However, orders on all platforms are expected to take additional time. The e-commerce companies have each assured customers that they will be taking all security provisions to ensure customer safety.
On Sunday, industry executives warned that only a small section of online sellers would be able to start selling non-essentials, as only a few states have notified guidelines so far, according to PTI.
A senior industry executive, who did not wish to be named, said states including Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh have also notified their guidelines for online commerce platforms that are similar to those issued by the Centre.
The executive said e-commerce companies that follow the marketplace model (like Amazon India, Flipkart and Snapdeal) could face some challenge as many of their sellers are either located or have their warehouses in red zones.
The home ministry guidelines remain unclear on operations of these marketplace sellers of non-essential products, who are in red zones. So, they are dependent on how local authorities issue their guidelines, he said.
E-commerce platforms could also see slow momentum for non-essential products given that metros and cities like Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Pune continue to be red zones where only essentials are allowed to be delivered.
Over 80 per cent of India’s 733 districts come under the orange and green zones. However, those living in India’s 130 red zone districts, which includes many of India’s major metropolises, are still unable to avail of non-essential e-commerce items via these websites.
Throughout the lockdown, only the sale of “essential” items (mostly grocery and hygience-related products) were allowed. Major e-commerce websites initially were unable to service customers, before later adding groceries and masks to their inventory.
Cab-hailing service providers Ola and Uber also resumed their operations in green and orange zones.
With inputs from PTI