As lockdown 4.0 kicked in on Monday, e-commerce companies are set to commence deliveries again of non-essential items across the country even in Red zones.
Earlier, non-essential e-commerce was permitted only in green and orange zones. However, this left most of India’s major metro cities out of the coverage zone for e-commerce.
The relaxations announced as part of lockdown 4.0 have brought much-needed relief to e-commerce companies, allowing them to deliver non-essential items in all zones. However, areas marked as containment zones will only be allowed to receive deliveries of essential items.
Amazon responded positively to the development, noting that containment areas would be able to access essential products.
“As per the latest government guidelines, we have started accepting orders for all products across the country and for essential products in Containment Areas,” the company said on their website.
“Amazon welcomes the latest notification from Government of India as it enables e-commerce to deliver a wider selection of products while upholding the tenets of safety and social distancing.”
“This will give a fillip to the 6 lakh retailers and MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) on our marketplace and help revive economic activity more broadly,” the company said in a statement.
Snapdeal also welcomed the move, with a spokesperson telling the media, “We welcome the guidelines announced by the MHA, which pave the way for a broader resumption of economic activities across most parts of India. E-Commerce has played a crucial role in the last two months by delivering a range of much-needed goods to consumers – within the safety of their homes.”
Paytm Mall Senior Vice President Srinivas Mothey said the move would help open up supplies of consumer electronics.
"We thank the government for taking the decision for allowing the delivery of non-essentials in red zones across the country. This move will help us deliver to most of the metro cities which presently fall in the red zones. We have received a sizeable number of consumer electronics wishlist orders from metro cities where people have been waiting to buy laptops, mobile phones, as well as other daily use items for the last several weeks now,” Mothey said.
A Snapdeal spokesperson said the move would help MSMEs rebuild their businesses. “At Snapdeal, we are ready and equipped to now start serving customers all across India—in red, green and orange zones—by providing them access to the entire selection of millions of products. This is also the moment that will enable lakhs of medium and small online sellers to start rebuilding their businesses as they serve the needs of users in cities and towns across India,” the Snapdeal spokesperson said.
