With the days of the lockdown continuing to extend in various parts of the country to combat the second wave of the COVID-19, Retailers Association of India (RAI) has said that workers and businesses in the retail industry are in need of urgent support.
RAI further said that it is getting increasingly difficult for retailers to retain employees and to keep their businesses afloat, and there is a need to inject capital into the industry. It noted that retailers need to pay salaries, minimum electricity, rentals, property taxes, etc. even if the businesses are shut due to lockdown. The cash inflow of the industry has come to a standstill, while the fixed operating costs remain intact.
Retailers Association of India is expecting that the immense financial stress faced by the retail sector will adversely impact both livelihood and the exposures of financial institutions to the sector as retailers start to become insolvent. Therefore, RAI underlined the two most important and immediate steps that can prevent this industry from collapsing are to prioritise vaccination of the last mile workers and to urgently provide financial support measures.