Coronavirus: Flipkart, Amazon suspend services as India goes under lockdown

Online retailer Flipkart and Amazon have announced that they are suspending services temporarily. In a notification on its website, Flipkart said that it will be back as soon as possible. Flipkart's announcement comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 21-day complete lockdown of the entire country.

"We are temporarily suspending our services. Your needs have always been our priority, and our promise is that we will be back to serve you, as soon as possible. These are difficult times, times like no other. Never before have communities stayed apart to stay safe! Never before has being at home meant helping the nation! We urge you to Stay Home to Stay Safe! We will get there. And we will get through. Together," stated the notification on its website.

Flipkart's suspension of services comes after rival Amazon announced on Tuesday that it would not take orders for any non-essential products to ensure critical needs of customers are prioritised and that they can focus on supplying essentials.

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Meanwhile, as reported in BusinessToday.In, a lot of online grocery platforms including Amazon, BigBasket and Grofers have been forced to shut shop in many parts of the country after local authorities interpreted lockdown as curfew. Essential services such as groceries are exempted from lockdown restrictions. Local authorities have shut down warehouses or stopped trucks with supplies at state borders due to this misinterpretation. Online grocery platforms are working with the authorities to get their services back up in the next 24 hours.

The Prime Minister on Tuesday announced a nation-wide lockdown in an address to the country. He urged people to stay indoors and said that people should not be mistaken that isolation is only for the sick, it is for the healthy too. PM Modi added that India would bear the financial outcome of the lockdown.

Also read: Amazon, Big Basket, Grofers locked down as local authorities misinterpret order

Also read: COVID-19: Grofers, BigBasket cap grocery purchases, shun discounts amid anxiety buying