Online food delivery services Swiggy and Zomato have been asked to shut down operations during the 21-day lockdown in some Indian states according to an ET Tech report. This order has come despite the union government categorising food delivery under the “essential service” category.
Governments in Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Assam, Chattisgarh, and Pondicherry have directed Zomato to halt operations during the lockdown.
The Greater Chennai Corporation, a civic body that controls operation in the capital city of Tamil Nadu tweeted “Only cooked food supply from Swiggy and Zomato are not allowed”.
Earlier, founder and CEO of Zomato, Deepinder Goyal tweeted saying that it was trying to work things out with some of the issues due to the lockdown.
He also added that Delhi, Maharashtra, and Karnataka had issued notifications to local authorities to let e-commerce operate but was yet to see a 100 percent impact in all states.
Despite this setback, we have seen some positives for food delivery services in other states like Telangana. However, delivery services will only be allowed between 6 AM and 6 PM in the state and all delivery personnel need to carry an ID card.
Earlier we also learned that online grocers were not being able to deliver goods to customers citing "restrictions by authorities" as a primary reason.
What’s surprising is that all of this is happening despite the central government’s orders to keep essential services exempt from the lockdown which included food delivery services.
This is clearly mentioned in the directive from the ministry and also tweeted by Delhi Police.
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