INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
When asked about view on Goyal's remarks over predatory pricing, Singh said that he cannot comment on the minister's remark as he was
(Photo: Reuters)2 min read Last Updated Aug 23 2024 | 9:37 PM IST
Amazon India plans to set up rest points for its delivery associates
across cities over the next couple of years under Project Ashray, a senior company official said on Friday.
The Ashray centres will
provide clean drinking water, phone charging stations, washrooms, and rest areas for delivery associates.
As a pilot, five rest points
will be set up in collaboration with Udyasa Foundation in Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, and Mumbai.
"Our plan is to be able to go to every city we
We have 1,800 delivery stations across the length and breadth of the country
In the next couple of years, you will find this in pretty much every city in India," Amazon India, Vice President Operations, Abhinav Singh
said.
He said that the project will be launched initially in cities where the company has a high number of drivers.
"As we find a
scalable model we will scale it to the rest of the country," Singh said.
The Ashray centres will also cater to the larger community,
providing access to delivery associates from different companies
Each centre can accommodate up to 15 people at a time and will be operational from 9 am to 9 pm
The facility's usage will be free and limited to 30 minutes per visit per delivery associate.
Amazon India is also exploring the
public-private partnership (PPP) model for the development of additional resting facilities under Project Ashray in the coming
months.
E-commerce companies like Amazon have drawn criticism from Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal over "predatory pricing".
The
minister recently went public with his fears about the impact of predatory pricing on small retailers and warned of the "huge social
disruption" with the massive growth of the e-commerce sector.
The minister questioned Amazon's announcement of USD 1 billion investment
in India, saying the US retailer was not doing any great service to the Indian economy but filling up for the losses it had suffered in the
country.
Goyal had later said he is not against online platforms but India wants such entities to be "fair and honest" in their
conduct.
When asked about view on Goyal's remarks over predatory pricing, Singh said that he cannot comment on the minister's remark
as he was not aware of it.
He, however, shared his personal opinion that the issue of predatory is incorrect.(Only the headline and
picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated
feed.)First Published: Aug 23 2024 | 9:37 PMIST
