SUMMARY
Piyush Goyal held discussions with various stakeholders from ecommerce and logistics
DPIIT has set up a control room to monitor the supply chain of essential commodities
Operations of ecommerce are facing disruptions in various states
With many instances of deliveries of essential services being blocked by police and state government authorities this week, despite clear orders from the central government to keep these running, ecommerce and delivery companies turned to commerce minister Piyush Goyal for assistance.
Goyal held discussions with various stakeholders from ecommerce and logistics industry on a video call. He tweeted saying he also discussed measures that can be taken to resolve issues as soon as possible. “We are committed to ensuring that essential goods reach the people in the most convenient and safest manner,” he added.
Control Room To Ensure Essentials Supply
To resolve the conflict between ecommerce companies and local law enforcement agencies, the department for the promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) is playing a key role. After asking state governments to allow the delivery of essential products from ecommerce channels amid coronavirus outbreak in India, the DPIIT has also established a control room.
According to an ET report, the control room is monitoring the supply chain of essential commodities in real-time. It is ensuring that the transportation and delivery of essential items don’t face any disruption amid the lockdown to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.
It is also monitoring the challenges faced by various stakeholders during the 21-day lockdown period. DPIIT said that any manufacturing, transporter, distributor, wholesaler or ecommerce companies facing ground level difficulties in transport and distribution of goods or mobilization of resources can inform to this department so that it can take timely action.
Any of these companies can send their grievances via email to ‘[email protected]’ or through a phone call by calling on 011-23062487. Notably, DPIIT officials are available on the call from 8 AM in the morning to 6 PM in the evening.
After registering complaints received through these platforms, the DPIIT will redirect them to the concerned state department to take quick actions to ensure that the delivery of essential commodities isn’t impacted. The DPIIT has also urged various industry associations to also register the complaints on behalf of these companies if the trade has been impacted on the ground level.
Previously, many ecommerce companies, aiming to deliver essential products like groceries, have reported that they were facing disruptions in their operations. In some instances, delivery-partners of grocery delivering companies like BigBasket and Grofers were stopped and beaten by police, while law enforcement agencies also locked down warehouses in a few cities.
