As the Centre has included e-commerce in the list of activities that are exempted from the lockdown from April 20, the regional mobile phone retailers have appealed to the State Governments in the South not to allow sales of phones or TVs, which are not considered essential services.

In letters to the Governments of Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the South India Mobile Retailers Association have argued that the guidelines issued by the Home Ministry are being misinterpreted by certain players and they are preparing to sell smart phones and TVs through the e-commerce route.

In its letter to Telangana Industries and Information and Technology Minister K T Rama Rao, the association cautioned that allowing e-commerce players to deliver phones during the lockdown period could pose health challenges.

“There are no standards being followed at the warehouses of these online partners. There are no SOPs (standard operating procedures) given to their delivery boys on hygiene,” the association said.

Citing the example of a Delhi Pizza delivery boy who reportedly exposed 70 persons to Covid-19, the material used and the personnel who will deliver the products may spread the infection in the absence of safety measures.

“There is a huge shortage of manpower during this pandemic and if resources are allocated for supplying these commercial products, it will create a manpower crunch for supplying the essential items like food and groceries,” it said.

The association in its memorandum further appealed to confine e-commerce operations only to essential commodities delivery and bar them selling phones and TVs,

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