The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Monday lambasted e-commerce companies that had suspended operations during the lockdown in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, terming the act condemnable.
In the current situation, where “all stakeholders should actually assume responsibility and come forward to help the country, they have chosen to step back and sit on the fence because doing business during crisis hours does not seem profitable to them” the traders’ body said.
Terming e-commerce giants engaged in online shopping as “fair weather friends”, the CAIT said they had gone into “hibernation” when they should be coming out to deliver essentials throughout the country.
CAIT hails offline traders
While hailing the role played by offline traders, the union said that nearly 1.25 crore traders of essential goods only around 25% were able to operate on ground due to various restrictions. The CAIT also said that with stores shut everywhere, retail business in the country was loosing ₹15 crores (approx.) daily.