Aarogya Setu App Mandatory For Ecommerce Employees

The Central government, on Sunday (April 19), issued a fresh set of orders for ecommerce players to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. The directions, which are a part of the standard operating procedure (SOP) for movement of workers amid lockdown, holds the chief operating officer (COO) of last-mile delivery companies accountable for the implementation of social distancing and sanitisation norms.

The new rules make it mandatory for the companies to install the Aarogya Setu in mobile devices off all its staff. The app is being used by the government to trace the spread of the pandemic and educate people on the deadly virus. The application also issues e-passes.

According to a PTI report, the purpose of this SOP is to provide health and safety guidance for cleaning, maintaining hygiene and safety at the workplace across the supply chain.

The draft has also asked these companies to give the responsibility of conducting several hygiene tasks to regional facility and infrastructure managers or someone at a similar job position.

The government wants to ensure that sanitisation practices are followed in the supply chain of the goods as well. To achieve this, the draft states that the management will be held responsible for educating and communicating the requirements to all stakeholders.

Other provisions of the draft include the screening of all workers for Covid-19 symptoms at entry points, immediate reporting to nearby hospitals and maintaining a visitor logbook at the facility. Any visitor to such facilities will have to share details like name, age, address, proof of residence, mobile number, among others.

The draft also has special provisions for last-mile delivery startups operating in high-risk areas. These companies are asked to carry out fumigation on warehouse sites by external vendors at least once every 15 days or if any person who visits the facility has been tested positive for the virus.

Meanwhile, a rider of a cloud kitchen startup Box8 was tested positive. He had also facilitated some of the orders which were placed on Zomato. Also, a delivery-partner of Swiggy has been tested positive in Hyderabad. With an increasing number of Covid-19 cases, the new set of directives will increase the accountability of hyperlocal-delivery startups for curbing the spread of the virus.