Flipkart temporarily suspends its services; Amazon stops non-essential items sale in India

Flipkart on Wednesday announced that it was temporarily suspending its services in India due to the coronavirus lockdown. The company announced the news in a message on its e-retail website and within its app.

“Our promise is that we will be back to serve you, as soon as possible,” the notice said. Apart from the announcement, the website also gives information about the advisory issued by the Government of India regarding coronavirus.

“Hello fellow Indians, We’re temporarily suspending our services…These are difficult times, times like no other. Never before, have communities stayed apart to stay safe. Never before, has being at home meant helping the nation,” Flipkart said in a message to its users.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a lockdown from Tuesday midnight, but a federal government advisory suggested exempting e-commerce deliveries of essentials such as food and medical equipment in addition to grocery stores and banks.

Amazon India also announced about halting orders for non-essential products in India to prioritise customers’ critical needs amid coronavirus. However, it did not give a timeline for the resumption of normal operations.

“To serve our customers’ most urgent needs while also ensuring the safety of our employees, we are temporarily prioritizing our available fulfilment and logistics capacity to serve products that are currently critical for our customers such as household staples, packaged food, health care, hygiene, personal safety and other high priority products,” Amazon said in a statement.