Retailers Association of India calls new Delhi shopping restrictions 'partial lockdown'

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Dec 30, 2021

As the Delhi government introduces new retail restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19 variant Omicron, the Retailers Association of India calls the “partial lockdown” a “nightmare” for businesses. 

“The recent Order of Alert issued by the Government of NCT of Delhi, is a nightmare for retail businesses like shops, restaurants and malls as it has a load of restrictions akin to a partial lockdown,” said the RAI’s CEO Kumar Rajagopalan in a statement, the Press Trust of India reported. 
 
The new Covid-19 measures introduced into Delhi include a return to the odd-even opening schedule for ‘non-essential’ shops, including clothing stores and boutiques. While collages, schools, and cinemas will be closed, transport will run at 50% capacity. 

“Sudden overnight restrictions such as these create uncertainty for businesses and confusion in the minds of consumers with regards to odd and even and leads to crowding, beating the purpose of such measures,” said Rajagopalan. 
 
The RAI suggested that, instead of the new restrictions, a stricter enforcement of previous mask wearing and social distancing regulations would be more effective. Rajagopalan also opined that the government should reassess its method for analysing case numbers as vaccination levels are significantly higher than before and the Omicron variant appears to lead to fewer hospitalisations, thus he said the current numbers may not warrant such strict measures for businesses still recovering from previous lockdowns.