E-commerce company Flipkart has decided to temporarily discontinue its services. The company has taken this step in view of the 21-day lockdown across the country due to coronavirus. Flipkart has written a message on its website. It explains why they shut down its operations. The message said, “Friends. We are temporarily closing our services. Your needs have always been our priority and we promise that we will come back soon,” it said.
Flipkart wrote that this is a very difficult time. It never happened before. We have to ask you to stay in your homes and stay safe. Together we will come out of this difficult time. Soon we’ll return. Flipkart, a Walmart-owned company, had been making it difficult to continue its operations for the past few days. This was happening because of restrictions on the movement of people and goods in different states. Other e-commerce portals like Amazon, Snapshot, Bigbasket, and Groffers are facing similar problems.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a lockdown across the country. It is a different thing that people will continue to get the necessary services during this. These include rations, milk, and medicines. However, the supply chain network breakdown is causing difficulties for everyone. After PM Modi’s announcement, Indian Railways has also decided to keep its services closed till April 14. Earlier, railway services were closed till March 31. Flipkart’s rival Amazon is facing similar problems. But, it has not yet decided to temporarily shut down its operations yet at the writing of this news.
Afroz is a business reporter at GetIgnite with a focus on regulators, lawmakers, and institutions. He was previously a news, science, technology and community reporter and editor with The Daily Targum. His work has been featured in The Nation and referenced by The Washington Post, ZDNet, Gizmodo, NJ Advance Media, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.