E-commerce firms stumped by home ministry U-turn barring delivery of non-essential goods

The decision by the home affairs ministry to disallow e-commerce companies from delivering non-essential items even after April 20 has upset the preparations of these platforms to restart operations.

Non-essential goods were added in the list of exemptions published by the home ministry on April 16 and scores of consumers might have ordered items such as electronics and stationery online.

Now, the ministry’s volte-face means that will have to wait longer. One such major order seems to be stationary and electronic items needed for consumers to work remotely. Consumers will pin their hopes on e-commerce to resume since malls and retail shops have been shut to prevent crowding of people.

Also Read: Lockdown 2.0 | A complete list of activities that will resume from April 20

A spokesperson for Amazon said the new guidelines 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.

Competitor Paytm Mall said that there is a need to expand the ambit of essential items and include those needed by Indians working remotely.

“Laptops, mobile phones, and accessories, computer hardware, webcams, all these things should be allowed to be part of essential goods. If the lockdown continues, lack of proper technical support would hinder the efficiency of employees which in turn would affect a company's operations,” said Srinivas Mothey, senior vice president, Paytm Mall.

LocalCircles had found out in an online survey that many parents needed access to stationary to ensure that their children could carry on with their classes online, hence wanted resumption of e-commerce deliveries.

As COVID-19 has not shown any signs of abating yet, this move could help keep more Indians locked inside. But industry experts pointed out that this move would essentially ensure a level playing field for small traders, since a large chunk of them are closed owing to the shutdown.

Union minister of industries and commerce, Piyush Goyal took to social media platform Twitter to say that this move will create a level playing field for small retailers.

Even Confederation of All India Traders, which represents small businesses in the country welcomed the move.

While excluding e-commerce from the list of items to be allowed to operate after April 20, the ministry has clarified that deliveries of essential items will be allowed as before. It has requested states to ensure free movement and operation of the entire supply chain for essential items to be delivered through e-commerce channels.