In a major relief for the e-commerce sector, the Indian government has finally given permission to online shopping brands like Flipkart,Amazon and Snapdeal to start selling non-essential items such as mobile, laptop and television through its platform which was stopped due lockdown which was imposed across the country due to COVID19. This means thatfrom 20 April onwards, consumers in India will finally be able to make their purchases online, and have them delivered to their doorstep as well.
“In accordance with the MHA guidelines issued on 15 April 2020, we are preparing to scale upoperations to meet the requirements of our users – both buyers and sellers. Summer apparel, kitchen accessories, small appliances like headsets, tablets for schoolwork, home printers, competitive exam books, etc will be in high demand,” Snapdeal said in its statement.
However, the Ministry notification suggests the delivery providers will have to take necessary approvals before heading back on the road with items to deliver. It is likely that delivery will not be permitted in areas that have been defined as COVID-19 hotspot by the state governments.
Many people have been forced to cancel their previous orders, and even take refunds from the sellers, as the government said only essential daily items will be made available by the online shopping platforms.
“Central government has issued the notification. We are now waiting for Uttar Pradesh Government to issue state notifications. If our plant doesn’t come under the red zone, then we will take permission from the Local Authority. During the lockdown, we prepared our stock so that we can resume sales when the lockdown is lifted,” said, Avneet Singh Marwah, Director and CEO of Super Plastronics Pvt. Ltd.
This opening up of the e-commerce space will also please the mobile and TV manufacturers in the country, who’ve had to postpone their launch events, as well as online sale dates amid the lockdown which has been imposed since 24 March across the country. In a related development, Realme is all set to launch its latest smartphone Narzo on April 21they will do an online launch which will be streamed on Youtube.