Shops in Delhi set to reopen from Monday amid host of concerns

New Delhi, May 3

As non-essential standalone shops are set to open from Monday, traders are elated that they can finally restart their work, but it will be far from business as usual due to concerns such as availability of staff and commuting restrictions during the lockdown period.

Many trade bodies are also seeking clarity from local authorities on the easing of restrictions as they say there is a “confusion” over what constitutes a neighbourhood shop and a standalone shop.

Delhi has been under a COVID-forced lockdown since March 23. In its latest guidelines issued on Friday, the Centre extended the lockdown until May 17, but relaxed the curbs.

Shops in urban areas for non-essential goods are not allowed to open in malls, markets and market complexes. However, all standalone (single) shops, neighbourhood (colony) shops and shops in residential complexes are permitted to remain open in urban areas, without any distinction of essential and non-essential.

Movement of all non-essential activities are also not allowed between 7 pm to 7 am.

Ramchander Yadav, who runs an electric shop in Burari, said the main problem for people like him was lack of manpower to run their business.

Yadav employs 12 to 13 people in his shop, but all of them stay at distant places within the national capital and cannot commute because there was no public transport.

“I have not opened my shop for over 42 days. In next few days, I will face difficulties as I don’t have workers. I will have to work with 33 per cent staff,” Yadav said.

Faridabad resident Ritika Khan, who owns a designer boutique in CR Park, said she wanted to open her shop but cannot do so as she did not have a curfew pass. The satellite cities of Faridabad and Gurgaon had sealed their borders, she added. Khan said even if she opened her shop, she had to curtail the timings.

Nikhil Gupta, who owns a kitchenware shop in Pandav Nagar, said he was planning to start his work from Monday, but is worried as he got most of his customers during the evening hours.

Shops are being allowed to open from 7 am to 7 pm.

Most major shopping hubs such as Connaught Place and Khan Market will remain closed as per the guidelines of the Union Home Ministry.

“We are a commercial hub, so we will not be opening. Neither the government restrictions allow that nor it is safe. We will see how the experiment goes for small markets and shops and we will open only when it’s completely safe,” Atul Bhargava, president, New Delhi Traders Association (NDTA) said.

The Confederation of All-India Traders (CAIT) said there was confusion about the guidelines.

“The traders will be in a dilemma,” CAIT secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said, adding there is “lack of clarity over what constitutes a neighbourhood shop and a standalone shop.”

He asserted that the “clarification should come from the right quarters. Not only the Centre, it is the duty of the state governments to issue that clarification because most of the issues are under the domain of the state governments. The law enforcement authorities also function as per their directives.”

The Retailers Association of India (RAI) said what constitutes market places could be misinterpreted.

Organised retailers such as Future Group and V-Mart Retail said they were also seeking permissions from local authorities.

All 11 districts of Delhi have been designated as red-zones. PTI