Amazon, Flipkart Stop Non-Essential Deliveries in Delhi Due to COVID-19 Lockdown

Following the massive rise of COVID-19 cases in India, several state governments have put lockdowns or curfews into effect yet again. Delhi is one of the worst-hit during the second wave and has been added to the lockdown list. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal announced a 10-day lockdown earlier this week. Due to this, e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart have stopped delivering non-essential products to customers living in the Delhi NCR region.

So, if you live in Delhi or the NCR region, you will see a new banner (image below) on Amazon’s home page (both on the website and mobile app) informing customers about the delivery of only essential goods during the lockdown. The banner reads as follows: “In light of the latest government guidelines, we are taking orders of essential products only. Deliveries may take longer than normal.”

Now, as you can tell, Amazon will only be delivering essential items such as face masks, groceries, healthcare devices, and household items. Non-essential items such as electronic goods, fashion items, and accessories are not deliverable to customers until the lockdown ends on April 26.

If you try to get a non-essential item from the e-commerce platform, the system will prevent you add the item to your cart. Instead, it will show a message stating that the “item cannot be shipped to your selected location.”

“Currently, we are enabling deliveries of essential products in line with new guidelines set by the government,” said an Amazon India spokesperson in a statement to Gadegets360.

“However, we have learnt from customers over the last one year that urgent needs vary across households and it is challenging to define a static essentials list. We request the Delhi Government to allow delivery and inter / intrastate movement of all products to enable people to maintain social distancing norms. E-commerce is the safest way to serve consumers’ needs while supporting livelihoods of lakhs of small and medium businesses including the local shops,” the person further added.

Coming to Flipkart, unlike Amazon, the Walmart-owned e-commerce platform does not show any banner or messages on its home page. However, if you open the mobile app of Flipkart, there is a new notice that says “product availability may vary as per government regulations for your zone.”

Nonetheless, both the e-commerce giants will continue to deliver the essential goods to customers during the lockdown. Delivery executives have also received e-passes for free movement around the region.