E-commerce companies temporarily stop taking orders for non-essential items

E-commerce companies Paytm Mall, Amazon and Flipkart have temporarily stopped taking orders for non-essential items due to restrictions imposed during the nationwide lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The companies had on Wednesday complained about their delivery staff being punished by local police despite government orders to exempt them from lockdown restrictions.

"Paytm Mall has decided to help users buy essential products including household staples, healthcare, hygiene, personal safety products on its platform. The company would temporarily not take any new orders for products that fall in the non-essential categories including fashion, mobile, and accessories, white goods and electronics among others," Paytm Mall said in a statement.

The company said it is working closely with government officials and logistics partners to ensure ease of deliveries and quick service.

"Paytm Mall is proactively talking to a number of new suppliers in the country who can immediately provide hand sanitizers, preventive ayurvedic medicines as well as other products that help in combating the spread of coronavirus," the company said.

Amazon India on its website said that pending deliveries of orders will be delayed in the ongoing situation of extensive lockdowns and restriction in movement.

"New ordering is available only on essential products through pre-paid payments methods. We are continuously evaluating the situation and working towards resuming deliveries soon," Amazon India said.

Meanwhile, Flipkart also resumed delivery of groceries.

"We're prioritizing grocery orders and working on delivering them to you as soon as we can. Orders for other items are temporarily unavailable, but we're working hard to bring things back on track," Flipkart said in a message on its website.

Online grocery seller Grofers tweeted that it has resumed operations as local authorities have helped the company in restarting operations.

Grofers' competitor Bigbasket's website continued to remain closed for new customers.

According to a report by ClickPost-Shadowfax, 21 per cent orders placed on e-commerce platforms between March 10-20 have been delayed, while 9 per cent shipments have been stuck.