Walmart-owned Flipkart and Amazon India’s Pantry services have been suspended temporarily as India entered a 21-day lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

E-commerce platforms have seen a manifold growth in orders on their platforms in India over the past few weeks as people logged online to stock food and household items as well as office items such as routers and cables (for work from home).

“Consequent to the order issued on March 24 by the ministry of home affairs announcing a 21-day lockdown across India to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, we are temporarily suspending our services,” Flipkart said in a blogpost.

The blog further said, “We will be back to serve you as soon as possible.”

Similarly, a note on Amazon India’s Pantry web page said, “Dear customers, due to unforeseen circumstances, Amazon Pantry service is temporarily unavailable in your city. We will be back soon”.

A Snapdeal spokesperson said the company is working region-wise to complete as many deliveries of essential goods to customers as possible according to local operating conditions.

“We are also actively supporting central and state authorities to help streamline issues for e-commerce operations in order to effectively serve the needs of consumers,” the spokesperson added.

Industry watchers have said there is an urgent need for uniform classification of essential items across various states.