INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, AUGUST 30
The Kathmandu District Administration Office has formed a committee to prepare protocols to give continuity to home
delivery services.
A meeting held between e-commerce entrepreneurs and DAO decided to allow home delivery services to continue during the
prohibitory period in the valley
The meeting chaired by Chief District Officer Janak Raj Dahal decided to allow e-commerce companies to home-deliver essential goods.
Staff
of a Kathmandu-based restaurant detained by Nepal Police at Durbar Marg, in Kathmandu, on Thursday, August 27, 2020
Photo courtesy: Alok Yonzan
On Thursday, Nepal Police had detained several e-commerce entrepreneurs and more than 20 delivery persons,
stating that home delivery services violated prohibitory orders issued by the Kathmandu DAO on August 26
The detentions prompted e-commerce entrepreneurs to urge the government to allow them to continue home delivery services.
The DAO held a
meeting today to address the concerns of e-commerce companies and formed a committee coordinated by Assistant CDO of Kathmandu Janak Raj
Bhatta, comprising a representative each from the Department of Commerce, Supply and Consumer Protection, the Ministry of Health and
Population and Nepal Police
The committee has been authorised to prepare protocols for smooth and secure operation of home delivery services, Bhatta told THT.
The
committee shall take recommendations from e-commerce companies as well while preparing home delivery protocols, he added.
On behalf of
e-commerce companies, Sagar Dev Bhatta, co-founder of Kirana, requested DAO to allow home delivery services between 5:00am and 9:00pm
without any hurdle.
The Ministry of Health and Population has requested children below 10 years and adults above 50 years of age not to
venture outside due to the risk of contracting COV- ID-19
Considering this, most of the families have been opting for home delivery services instead of going out to buy stuff, he said, adding, Home
delivery service will help them stay safely at home.
Dev Bhatta added that home delivery services will also help in contact tracing,
controlling black market activities and reducing crowds in the market.
E-commerce plays a big role in mobilising the economy and fulfilling
Home delivery of essential goods should not be halted, he added.
Moreover, as e-commerce prioritises digital payments, risk of COV- ID-19
transmission via cash transaction will also be reduced, said Asim Man Singh Basnyat, founder of Pathao.
Kathmandu DAO, meanwhile, requested
e-commerce companies to focus on delivering only essentials and not non-essential items, such as clothes, cakes and junk food.
A version of
this article appears in e-paper on August 31, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.
The post Panel formed to prepare home delivery protocols
appeared first on The Himalayan Times.
