Covid-19 impact: Govt backtracks on non-essential items' sale by e-tailers

The norms earlier allowed them to operate without any restriction on their working hours from April 20, provided they ensured strict social distancing.

The government on Sunday said e-commerce platforms would be allowed to sell only essential items during the lockdown extension, a move that the industry described as a complete U-turn from what was said last week. 

The decision marked a big win for small trader bodies, most notably the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which wanted the government to reconsider its earlier decision to allow e-commerce firms to sell non-essential items. 

In a letter to the Prime Minister, CAIT National Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said allowing e-commerce firms to sell non-essentials when brick-and-mortar small traders were allowed to sell just