BENGALURU: A day after announcing that it will shut down online learning platform ‘Amazon Academy’ in India, the ecommerce company Amazon on Friday said it will discontinue its pilot food delivery business Amazon Food in Bengaluru.
It was launched in May 2020, it partnered with restaurants, and expanded the service in Bengaluru.
Amazon in a statement said, “At Amazon, we’re always experimenting and investing in new ideas to delight our customers. We also continually evaluate the progress and potential of our products and services to deliver customer value, and we regularly make adjustments based on those assessments.”
“As part of our annual operating planning review process, we have made the decision to discontinue Amazon Food, our pilot food delivery business in Bengaluru. We don’t take these decisions lightly. We are discontinuing these programs in a phased manner to take care of current customers and partners and we are supporting our affected employees during this transition,” the statement added. It said the company will continue to invest across those areas where they can bring value to customers including grocery, smartphones, consumer electronics, Fashion & Beauty, and its B2B offerings such as Amazon Business.
Meanwhile, Amazon has told authorities in the labour ministry that the programme is a voluntary separation, and that they did not compel any employees to resign, according to sources familiar with the development. Acting on the complaint by IT employee’s union Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) about the alleged layoffs in Amazon, the labour ministry called Amazon and NITES for the joint discussion on November 23.
It is said that the ecommerce giant has provided a statement saying that the programme was voluntary. Sources said there was no formal complaint from any employees regarding layoffs. The ecommerce giant also told the labour ministry about severance packages that they are offering to employees under the voluntary separation programme (VSP). Harpeet Singh Saluja, president, NITES, asked, “If it is voluntary, why has the company given a deadline to its employees.”
Food delivery business launched in May 2020
Amazon’s pilot food delivery business was launched in May 2020, it partnered with restaurants, and expanded the service in Bengaluru. Amazon in a statement said, “At Amazon, we’re always experimenting and investing in new ideas to delight our customers.”