Flipkart announces measures to support sellers amid Covid-19

Walmart-owned Flipkart on Friday announced a slew of measures, including waiver of various fees paid by sellers, to help small and medium businesses amid the deadly second wave of the Covid pandemic.

Flipkart has exempted the storage fees to curb the impact that any seller may have on their inventory that is fulfilled through Flipkart’s fulfilment centres, the e-commerce major said in a statement.

The company is also waiving the cancellation fee till May 31, 2021, for orders that may have been cancelled due to lockdowns in various states, it added.

Besides, Flipkart will bear a 100 per cent premium of Covid insurance extended to all sellers, which covers hospitalisation and consultation between Rs 50,000 to Rs 3 lakhs.

“Through these testing times, it is our constant effort to support our seller partners who face immense operational challenges as a result of the pandemic. As a democratic marketplace, we want to ensure that our lakhs of seller partners are able to continue operations and keep the economic engine running,” Flipkart Senior Director and Head – Marketplace Jagjeet Harode said.

These initiatives have been rolled out to bring sellers the much-needed respite to keep their businesses active, he added.

Flipkart has also extended the window for the Seller Protection Fund (SPF) within which sellers have to claim SPF on returned products – from the regular 14 days to now 30 days. The company will further ease the policies and performance metrics for its sellers to ensure that their business growth is not impacted by state-led lockdowns.

The record number of Covid-19 cases daily in the second wave has stretched the healthcare infrastructure of the country.

Many states have announced lockdowns and curfews to tackle the situation, impacting businesses.

Most states have allowed e-commerce companies to operate and allowed delivery of only essential items like grocery and medicines.