You may soon be able to order whatever it is that you need on ecommerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart, to name a few. The new guidelines by the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India come into effect on April 20, which allows additional activities subject to operationalization by the states and union territories. This comes at a time when the lockdown in India has been extended to May 3, in an effort to curb the spread of the Coronavirus, or COVID-19.
The new guidelines state that all goods traffic will be allowed by ply across the country, except the demarcated containment zones, hotspots or red zones where the spread of infection or the risk, is high. This includes operations of railways for transportation of goods and parcels, operations at airports and land ports for cargo movement as well as movement of trucks and commercial vehicles for pick-up and delivery of goods. The new guidelines by the Ministry of Home Affairs say that “vehicles used by e-commerce operators will be allowed to ply with necessary permissions” and courier services will also be allowed to operate.
Essential goods remains in focus, and the government clarifies that “all facilities in the supply chain of essential goods, whether involved in manufacturing, wholesale or retail of such goods through local stores, large brick and mortar stores or e-commerce companies should be allowed to operate, ensuring strict social distancing without any restriction on their timing of opening and closure.”
It is expected that with the new relaxed guidelines in place, shopping websites and ecommerce platforms will be able to deliver and fulfill customer orders now. In the early days of the first phase of the lockdown, there were reports that ecommerce companies and their delivery personnel were often restricted from moving around, which hampered services and delivery of essentials to customers.
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