NEW DELHI/BENGALURU: Shortage of essential supplies gripped Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru and Mumbai after local authorities allegedly disrupted delivery services of e-commerce operators such as BigBasket and Grofers amidst a nationwide lockdown.
Flagging concerns on authorities shutting down warehouses, blocking trucks carrying supplies and dissuading delivery agents from moving around on the streets, the Retailers Association of India has urged all state governments to allow food and grocery stores, offline and online, to remain open during the lockdown period to curb panic buying of essential groceries.
“In some unfortunate incidents in Maharashtra, Andhra, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat, local police are going beyond the word of law, beating up employees and delivery staff of retailers. These employees are risking their lives to serve citizens. Let all grocery stores — within malls or outside, air-conditioned or non-air-conditioned, small or large, online or offline — stay open,” the association said in a statement. It also requested that home deliveries be allowed to stop people from stepping out of homes.
E-commerce companies were forced to cancel or reschedule lakhs of orders for essential goods such as packaged food, groceries and medicines across several cities. According to Grofers CEO Albinder Dhindsa, there was a temporary delay in the delivery of nearly 60,000 orders on March 22 as the police had directed closure of its warehouse in Maharashtra and Haryana and trucks carrying supplies to its warehouses were being stopped in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana.
BigBasket also complained of similar operational issues on ground, which led to delay in supplies despite the Central government clearly exempting e-commerce firms from the prohibitory orders. Other micro delivery companies including 1mg and Milkbasket concurred. “We could only operate at 40 per cent capacity in Gurgaon on Monday. Even lower in Noida. We might have to cancel all the orders today, impacting over 1.5 lakh families across four cities,” Milkbasket said.
E-tailers struggle
60,000 orders delayed as cops ask Grofers to shut warehouses
1.5 lakh families affected as Milkbasket deliveries hit
E-tailers such as Amazon and Flipkart are also working with local authorities to ensure seamless delivery and have temporarily informed sellers that pick-up from warehouses could be rescheduled, delaying orders.