E-commerce companies such as Amazon and Filpkart are not allowed to sell products unless they are in the essential items list, the Union home ministry said in an order on Sunday, appearing to backtrack from an earlier announcement that allowed these companies to deliver products such as laptops, mobile phones and appliances from April 20.
On April 15, the government put e-commerce in the list of what will be allowed once some curbs are lifted from areas with no Covid-19 outbreak, a decision that trader lobbies criticised for giving being discriminatory against brick-and-mortar retailers.
“Supply of non-essential goods by e-commerce companies to remain prohibited during Lockdown 2.0 to fight Covid,” said a spokesperson of the ministry of home affairs citing the new order, which, he said, clarifies a misinterpretation of last week’s directions.
Clause 14 (v) for e-commerce companies in revised consolidated guidelines on April 15 was technically misinterpreted as allowing the delivery of non-essential items, since the clause did not specify “essential or non-essential items”, home secretary Ajay Bhalla said in a letter sent to all states on Sunday.
On Saturday, the opposition Congress too opposed the April 15 decision, saying the government was doing injustice to retail traders by allowing e-commerce companies to deliver non-essential items. Similar objection was raised by the Confederation of All -India Traders in a letter to the PM.
{{/usCountry}}On Saturday, the opposition Congress too opposed the April 15 decision, saying the government was doing injustice to retail traders by allowing e-commerce companies to deliver non-essential items. Similar objection was raised by the Confederation of All -India Traders in a letter to the PM.
{{/usCountry}}Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Sunday the move will help in creating a level playing field.
Amazon India, one of the biggest e-commerce websites, said Sunday’s decision will affect customers who may need some products essential to working or studying from home.
“The new guideline will disappoint not only the consumers whose list of essentials had expanded to work from home and study from home products but also the thousands of small businesses, sellers and manufacturers across the country, who had geared up in the last 48 hours to provide millions of people with safe access to products,” a spokesperson said.
The company said it will continue to follow guidelines and deliver essential products, and was working closely with authorities for expedited processes to make safe deliveries of priority products.
On Sunday, CAIT issued a statement, saying it had “demolished sinister plan of e-commerce companies to trade in non-essential commodities”.
Since March 25, when India was put under what is the world’s largest shutdown in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the government has largely allowed only items of basic necessities to reach people.
Efforts have been made to ensure that milk, vegetables, cooking oil, milk and such products reach people, with a special emphasis on doorstep delivery in many parts of the country, the official cited above said.
When Modi extended the lockdown till May 3, he said that certain economic activity in regions that contain the outbreak successfully can be relaxed, but with “very strict guidelines on how people step out of their homes” . These allowed some construction and industrial activity as well as operation of offices with strict social distancing protocols, as long as these were in areas not classified as hot spots. Work by some self-employed individuals, such as cobblers and roadside vendors, was also put on the list of what could be allowed.