E-commerce companies do not need any pass from the district administration to operate in Faridabad, the Faridabad Police said in an order dated March 26. The commissioner’s office told MediaNama that they will validate the identity of delivery persons via ID cards, and it is not mandatory for them to be wearing uniforms “since every company doesn’t provide them [uniforms]”. The district administration has sent these orders to various e-commerce companies, we have been told. The order from Faridabad Police had come before the the Home Ministry, directed all states and UTs to allow all facilities in the supply chain of e-commerce companies, local stores, and large brick and mortar stores last night.
#लॉकडाऊन के दौरान @FBDPolice द्वारा, आमजन की समस्याओं को देखते हुए, नीचे लिस्ट में दर्शाई गई आवश्यक चीजों की आपूर्ति के लिए अनुमति दी गई है @police_haryana @nsvirk @FTPfbd @DC_Faridabad @dr_arpit_jain @gurgaonpolice @SmartCityFbad pic.twitter.com/3nOOxpc0jK
— Faridabad Police #PeoplesPolice (@FBDPolice) March 26, 2020
Which companies are allowed: The e-commerce companies that have been specifically name checked in the Faridabad police order are consistent with the ones mentioned in similar orders by the Gurugram police and Gautam Buddh Nagar district administration (including Noida). Some of the companies included in the order are: e-commerce companies (Amazon (which has been misspelt in the order), Flipkart, Snapdeal), food delivery (Zomato, Swiggy, UberEats), online grocers (24Seven, Grofers, BigBasket, Milkbasket, Dunzo, Big Bazaar, Licious), e-pharmacies (Medlife, PharmEasy), service providers (UrbanClap), courier and logistics companies (Blue Dart, DTDC, Wow Express). The order also includes Dr Lal Path Labs and Max Path Labs.
- As was the case with the orders from Noida, Gurugram, and initially Delhi, companies such as Jabong, Myntra and have been allowed to operate, despite not providing any of the essential goods, that is, food, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment, which are exempt from from the 3-week long nationwide lockdown.
- Satvacart has been mentioned in the order despite only delivering in Gurugram.
Local law enforcement slowly allowing delivery services to operate: The Home Ministry’s direction had come after individual police departments, including Mumbai Police, and Gurugram Police, came out with their own guidelines that allowed e-commerce operations without any passes. Unlike these police departments, police in Hyderabad and Bengaluru had already started issuing passes to e-commerce companies, and continue to do so. The Delhi Police had initially allowed operations of e-commerce in the city without any passes but later rescinded that order. We are awaiting a response from Delhi Police on the same.
