On Tuesday, Surakchya Adhikari, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Thulo.com, an online retail store, was busy looking over at the numbers of orders the company had received for Teej. But as the day came to end, a Cabinet meeting decided to implement prohibitory orders in the Valley to curb the spread of Covid-19 starting Wednesday midnight.

“With the immediate restriction order, I did not get the time to properly plan for the delivery of goods the next day. And amid confusion and a lack of clarity, we had to remain closed for the next two days,” Adhikari said. The sudden shuttering of operations meant she could not make the most of the festive week, a time when sales would have peaked, she says.

The government’s immediate decision of shutting down the Valley has added stress to e-retailers already struggling from the initial lockdown, which lasted from March to June, and is causing them operational hindrances. E-retailers are uncertain as to how they can go about managing and planning their supply system and stock.

“It has been more than five months that pandemic hit the nation but the government has not been able to come up with an operation strategy for e-commerce and address the problem for delivering essential goods,” said Subal Chitrakar, co-founder and operation head at Sasto Deal, another online retailer.

Agreeing with Chitrakar, Adhikari said that since the lockdown began on March 24, the government has neither realised the importance of e-commerce at the time of pandemic nor formulated a strategy for such services to operate smoothly.

For instance, Adhikari said that the government has still not clearly mentioned whether two-wheelers are allowed to deliver or not. Delivering goods on two-wheelers in comparison to four-wheelers is comparatively more efficient, say e-retailers. But nothing has been defined yet.

Confusion arose on Thursday morning when despite the government stating that the supply of essential goods will be allowed to operate, police administration stopped delivery. E-retailers were flooded with orders amid the festival Teej but due to the restriction orders, deliveries were delayed and orders were cancelled, said e-traders.

But now, three days into the week-long restrictions, e-retailers are now allowed to deliver all day but with vendors allowed to open shop for limited time they are having problems managing stock, they say.

“As the market is open only for a certain time, we are also facing problems with the supply part,” said Adhikari.

Anil Basnet, founder and CEO of MetroTarkari, said that as the vegetable wholesale market is open only until 7 am in the morning, they are having problems in supplying vegetables. “Vendors have been running out of stock and the limited time has impacted our deliveries,” says Basnet.

The delivery numbers have also been reduced. While earlier they were getting 50-60 orders on a daily basis, from Thursday they have been getting only 25-30 orders, said Basnet.

“It is high time the government implements delivery policy or stable operation rules so that business does not get impacted by the sudden implementation of safety measures,” Adhikari said.

The demand for online delivery of daily consumable goods has swelled in the Valley since the beginning of lockdown, with people preferring to order online rather visiting the market physically, said e-traders.

But with no e-commerce policy in the country, there is a lack of clarity and communication from the government, affecting daily operations, said e-retailers.

The proposed E-commerce Bill 2020 law, which had been sent to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies by the Department of Commerce, Supply and Consumer Protection in July, is yet to be reviewed before it is submitted to the Cabinet for its approval which is under discussion.

“We have been waiting for e-commerce policy so that it would be lawfully easy for us to operate our businesses,” said Adhikari. “We have been following safety protocol strictly, as an infection in our delivery team will have a deep impact on the team and business too,” she said. But the government too has to do their bit, she added.

Unless the government comes up with policies that ensure smooth operations for e-commerce, such sudden orders will have an impact on the businesses, says Chitrakar. “The government needs to come up with clear rules so that no confusion occurs for the businesses that are trying their best to survive the pandemic,” he added.

According to e-commerce traders, the e-commerce market in Nepal is worth around $35-40 million with 300 percent growth largely due to growing smartphone users and increasing internet penetration in the country.

“E-commerce is the only option for people who are staying home and abiding by the government's orders. And meeting their needs needs to be encouraged,” he said.