After MHA Guidelines, E-Commerce Firms Flipkart, Snapdeal Likely To Resume Full Operations From 20 April: Report

After the government released a set of guidelines on Wednesday (15 April) for services that are allowed during the extended lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19, e-commerce companies including Flipkart, Snapdeal and Paytm Mall are preparing to resume full operations from 20 April, reports Economic Times.

However, e-commerce major Amazon has sought additional clarification from the government regarding the selling of non-essential items along with the food and grocery.

According to the report, the Ministry of Home Affairs in its previous notifications had only allowed the e-commerce companies to sell essential goods including food, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. However, the guidelines issued on Wednesday are reportedly devoid of any such classification of essential and non-essential items, thereby creating confusion among online retailers.

However, a government official told ET that Home Ministry’s directives on e-commerce were clear and that these firms should start operation based on the latest guidelines.

“For now it is amply clear that these companies can resume services, if there are problems faced at the local level they can be handled later,” the official added.

Following the order, e-commerce major Walmart-owned Flipkart is likely to start accepting orders for all items including non-essentials from 20 April, a company source was quoted in the report as saying. Similarly, Snapdeal and Paytm Mall too will resume operations from next week.