E-commerce firms like Amazon, Flipkart and others will now be able to deliver non-essential goods starting from April 20. Their services were hindered after the central government imposed the first stage of nationwide lockdown for 21 days to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Considering the role this sector plays in the economy, the government in a statement said, “Digital economy is critical to the services sector and is important for national growth. Accordingly, e-commerce operations, operations of IT and IT-enabled services, data and call centres for Government activities, and online teaching and distance learning are all permitted activities now.”

Under the latest guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, vehicles being used by the e-commerce firms are allowed to ply.

During the lockdown, e-commerce platforms were allowed to sell only essential goods such as food, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Removal of restrictions means that these e-tailer companies will now be able to sell mobile phones and electronic items, including refrigerators, televisions, air conditioners, coolers along with stationery items.

Following the announcement, the two giant etailers Amazon and Flipkart pledged to take measures to support and empower their sellers and SMBs on their marketplaces. These measures include waiving off storage fee for April, some relief in reimbursements and others.

Flipkart on Friday announced a three-month moratorium on existing loans, special offers on its growth capital programme and constant counsel and on-ground support for nearly 2 lakh sellers on its platform before resuming operations.

“The analytics teams are supporting sellers with market intelligence to ensure smooth listings on the platforms. Also, the supply chain team continues to maintain an intense focus on safety and health procedures in all Flipkart facilities and staff that will support the movement of goods for sellers,” the company said in a statement.

Flipkart has provided its seller’s flexibility of choosing to work or not work during the lockdown period, without any concerns of their performance metrics being hampered.

All the payments related to cancelled orders in the lockdown period are underway and are being settled in the upcoming payment cycles, the company informed.

“Also, sellers do not have to wait for 60 days from the date of the return request to raise an SPF claim, and can raise it as soon as the lockdown lifts and the company fully resume its operations,” said the etailer.

Amazon, on the other hand, has announced to help the micro-entrepreneurs and other SMBs with their cash flow.

“We are waiving off 50 per cent of the Selling on Amazon (SoA) or the ‘referral fee’ till June 30. This initiative stands to benefit tens of thousands of sellers on Amazon.in,” Gopal Pillai, VP, Seller Services, Amazon India said.

This is a fee that all sellers pay for selling their products on Amazon, which is a percentage of the total sales price that is paid by the buyer.

“The SoA fees vary for different categories but is applicable for all sellers. This waiver will apply to all sellers whose average GMS (Gross Merchandise Sales) for the Jan and Feb 2020 was Rs 10,000 and below,” added Pillai.

Like Flipkart, Amazon has also decided to waive off off storage fees for all products at its Fulfillment centers till April 30.

“As we prioritize delivering high priority products to our customers including food, groceries, medicine and healthcare items, we have had to cancel orders containing lower priority items. To help reduce the impact of these cancellations on our seller partners, we are refunding of all fulfilment and referral fees,” informed Amazon.

Amazon said it is temporarily relaxing claim windows for different types of reimbursements that its seller partners file for.

“This has been done to ensure that reimbursement claims are not denied if they miss the regular claim windows due to the disruption caused by COVID 19,” the company said.

Amazon has more than 6 lakh sellers and a significant number of these sellers include micro-entrepreneurs as well as small and medium businesses as well as women sellers, artisans and weavers and many more.