After Maharashtra, Rajasthan allows full e-commerce operations

Rajasthan has now become the second state after Maharashtra to allow e-commerce firms to fully function and deliver all goods in the state beginning April 20, a move aimed at easing last-mile doorstep delivery issues amidst the lockdown which has been extended till May 3.

This move follows the announcement by the Ministry of Home Affairs on April 15 to allow e-commerce firms to deliver essentials as well as non-essential items beginning April 20. Maharashtra’s permission though allowed the e-commerce firms to function fully with immediate effect.

According to an order passed on April 15, the Rajasthan government has listed all activities that will be allowed or restricted until the extended lockdown period that ends on May 3.

Like Maharashtra, Congress party-led Rajasthan has opened the way for Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal, BigBasket, Grofers, Zomato, Swiggy and other players in the e-commerce, food delivery and grocery delivery space to operate fully in the state.

The entire chain, including offices, warehouse, and delivery persons of all e-commerce, home delivery companies supplying items or goods have been permitted and encouraged to provide services, the order said. And it also mentioned that services would not be applicable for hotspots or red zones where the spread of the infection is high.

Going forward, all e-commerce firms may get permission from all states to deliver non-essential items as well. Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal, and Paytm Mall are reportedly getting ready to resume their full operations after April 20.

Apart from e-commerce and online delivery of essential plus non-essential items, Rajasthan has also allowed several industries, workshops, corporates, IT firms, banks and hospitals to continue their operations under prescribed norms, similar to the central government order issued earlier.

According to data provided by government-promoted Aarogya Setu, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Rajasthan has surged to 1023 of which 147 people have recovered while 3 have died.