In another incidence of alleged police brutality against citizens it has been reported that E-commerce companies delivering essentials like groceries, medicines and food are facing attacks and harassment from law enforcement officials and security guards, leading to severe inconvenience in times of an unprecedented crisis, online retailers have said, calling for an urgent intervention from the government. A huge amount of fresh produce had to be thrown away because of the disruptions, they said.
K Ganesh, promoter of online platforms like BigBasket, FreshMenu and Portea Medical, said that over the last few days, policemen have abused and assaulted retail marketers. In one of the case even arrested a delivery agent leading to huge disruption in their activities.
“Even though the government has done absolutely the right step and has been categorical in exempting essential services and have specified essential services like online delivery of goods, groceries, food, medicines and medical equipment, that message has not gone to the people down the line,” Mr Ganesh told NDTV.
“The cop there does not know that it’s an essential service, he has no mechanism to allow and disallow somebody. In many cases, they are being harsh, they are beating up people. In Kerala, one of our health workers going to service a patient was arrested,” he said.
“People are risking their lives, please don’t beat them up. Challan them. If people run away because their colleagues are beaten up, we cannot do anything. Don’t beat up people trying to deliver goods and services,” Mr Ganesh added.
The statement was made by online grocery retailer Grofers and meat delivery platform FreshToHome, which said they were facing obstructions in delivering from local authorities who were enforcing the coronavirus lockdown.
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