Govt announces relief measures for e-commerce platforms to deliver essential and non-essential items in all zones

NEW DELHI: With lockdown 4.0, the government of India announced relief measures for e-commerce platforms to deliver essential and nonessential items in all the zones. During the first three phases of the lockdown only essential times were allowed followed by relaxation in green and orange zones but now even red zones have been opened up for home delivery of products.

For lockdown 3.0 which began on May 4, e-commerce activities were allowed in red zones for essential goods only.

Amazon is now fully operational for the delivery of nonessential items in the red zones which includes items like TV, laptops, mobiles, printers, washing machines. Snapdeal website has limited number of products for the same zone. Flipkart is yet to update on this and currently not delivering non-essentials in red zones.

In a statement, Snapdeal

said, “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.”

“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 statement further elaborated.

Meanwhile, Delhi government issued guidelines on Monday which sated that in containment zones, only essential activities will be allowed. There would be strict perimeter control to ensure no movement of people in or out of these zones, except for medical emergencies and for maintaining the supply of essential goods and services.

All delivery agents are required to abide by all safety guidelines including wearing a face mask or cover, use hand sanitizer, and handle all packages with care.