The e-commerce firms have applauded the latest guidelines by the Government that allows online companies such as Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal to resume operations and start delivery of both essential and non-essential items in districts categorised as green and orange zones during the Lockdown 3.0, which starts from 4 May and will go on till 17 May.
The deliveries, however, will be limited to only essential goods including grocery, medical and kids’ products in red zone districts, confirmed notification from Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
These deliveries will be allowed between 7 am and 7 pm.
Besides, the new guidelines also allow taxis and cab aggregators to operate in green and orange zones with restrictions.
Welcoming the move, an Amazon spokesperson said “We welcome the Government’s decision to allow e-commerce 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.”
The spokesperson added “Millions of small-and-medium businesses and traders will now be able to jumpstart their businesses and livelihoods across their workforce. It will take a few days before we really understand the kind of demand that exists in these markets and we will ramp up slowly.”
Amazon has confirmed that the lockdown in India which allowed the delivery of only groceries and other essential items has resulted in the biggest revenue impact as compared to any other country in the international market.
While it’s a welcome move, more than 50-60 per cent of sales for online firms come from metros and large cities which are mostly in the red zone. These include cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.
However, Srinivas Mothey, Senior Vice President, Paytm Mall, said that sales will go up in Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns as well as there are pent-up demands in these areas as well.
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