- Amazon, Flipkart will deliver essential items, while other grocery apps like
Grofers ,Bigbasket ,Milkbasket , Dunzo can get back to business as usual. - E-commerce apps shut down services temporarily as delivery agents continued to be hassled by the police for venturing out during
lockdown . - State police departments have now issued orders for safe passage of delivery agents of essential services.
In the national capital region, Gurugram police issued a statement to ensure that the apps can start functioning again.
In Telangana, IT Minister KT Rama Rao said that he had already directed the IT secretary to ensure e-commerce players restart operations.
“We have been assured of the safe and smooth passage of our supply chain and delivery executives by local law enforcement authorities and are resuming our grocery and essentials services later today,” Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO Flipkart Group said in a statement.
On March 25 morning, Amazon users across India received notifications that their orders have been delayed, while Flipkart suspended services temporarily as delivery agents were hassled by the police. Milkbasket, Bigbasket, Grofers had all temporarily suspended services.
Disturbing visuals also showed how a Medlife delivery agent who was out to deliver medicines was lathicharged by the police in the national capital.
On March 24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a nation-wide lockdown which meant everyone has to stay home while only essential services will be operational.
But now, things are starting to get back to normal.
“We continue to strengthen our supply chain in a safe and secure manner for our employees and consumers alike, and will leverage our efficient and robust delivery network to make products available to customers across the country and support the nation in this time of crisis through sanitized and safe supply chain,” said Krishnamurthy.
However, due to an unprecedented increase in the number of orders, customers should expect a delay in services or fewer delivery slots.
See Also:
Coronavirus cases in India