IAMAI issues a plea to the Government for the commencement of e-commerce business after 20th April

On the 27th day of the COVID-19 lockdown, 20th April, e-commerce sectors were expected to resume. But after an order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the restriction on e-commerce has been put back in its place to date until further notice. This has resulted in a plea issued by IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India), requesting to roll back the order and allow e-commerce to return to normalcy.

IAMAI states that the lockdown on e-commerce is affecting a huge section of small and medium scale industries. The resuming of e-commerce would serve as a breather for the people associated not only on the surface of the e-commerce business but those who are acting behind the scenes as well.

  B2B Start-up “Arzooo.com” launches a retail-from-home initiative to support retail shops across the country

To support retailers throughout the country during these tough times, B2B start-up “Arzooo.com” has launched a “retail-from-home” feature system exclusively for the brick-and-mortar retail shops. The newly-introduced platform helps a retailer to reach its loyal customer base and sell products even if their store is under lock-and-key due to the lockdown phase. Arzooo, on behalf of the retailers, will handle the logistics from the retail to the customer.

  Facebook’s fundraising initiative

Social platform giant Facebook has initiated a campaign in India, on Monday, called the “Fundraising Programme” to boost crowdfunded missions and provide support to the NGO’s and welfare organizations across the country who are helping people fight this pandemic. Using this platform, one can donate their contribution tone of seventy listed organisation and government fund schemes.

  Oyo extending support to their partners

While most unicorns have been unable to extend their support to their associates, OYO- a leading unicorn of the hospitality sector, has extended a hand of help for their partner hotels and resorts across the country. OYO has claimed to have waived off several charges for their partner hotels since March.

Benefits of around Rs. 20 crores has been distributed among 3000 OYO partner hotels. It has also announced a complete waiver for those who have been hit the worst during the lockdown period.

  A bid to support healthcare by Indian startups

In an attempt to support the hard-hit healthcare system, numerous start-ups are rising to the occasion to contribute their bit. Keeping up with the good work, CloudNine group has joined hands with local logistics start-up Dunzo to provide and deliver medicines to the customer’s doorstep. These medicines are available for order, 24x7 and can be availed in major cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Pune and Gurgaon.

   Meanwhile, a Gurgaon-based start-up, Detel has launched their PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) line-up called the DetelPro. This line-up will include top-quality safety masks, shoe covers, gloves and protection gowns and will be available at affordable prices.

   Also, Urban Company (formerly known as Urban Clap) has launched home/commercial space disinfection services as an effort to protect its customers from all kinds of infection, including Coronavirus infection. Their company is currently offering these services in major cities like Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Chennai. It plans to extend their services to other cities as well, by the end of April.

   Additionally, cab-application start-up Ola has launched Ola Emergency Services in Mumbai, which will be later extended across all major cities in India. This will help people avail Ola cabs for emergency trips to hospitals for any medical reason, apart from COVID. The service covers scheduled check-ups, immediate injuries and trauma care, dialysis and chemotherapy.

  Conclusion

Various organizations and institutions are up in arms to fight this pandemic and its impact on the livelihood of Indian people. Unity and a sheer drive aimed at the welfare of the people through these tough times is the only reason why a flurry of companies and businesses are extending their help to those who are in need.