The ban came into effect on June 24, is expected to considerably hurt online retailers, delivery companies, and logistics platforms in terms of costs and delivery timelines, with Mumbai and Pune accounting for about 25-30 percent of e-commerce orders nationally.
E-commerce companies including Amazon and Flipkart are likely to get three months relief from the newly-enforced state-wide blanket ban on plastics in Maharashtra.
Earlier this month, online retail companies including Amazon wrote to the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI) seeking its assistance to appeal to the Maharashtra government for an extension to be able to change their packaging to a recyclable material.
Food aggregators Zomato and Swiggy seem to have witnessed a dip in order volumes on day one of the ban with restaurants suspending delivery of items such as gravies that need water-proof packing.
Worth mentioning here is that it would be mandatory for e-commerce majors such as Flipkart, Amazon and Paytm Mall to upgrade their packaging material in Maharashtra to cardboard boxes, which are about 30 percent more costly as compared to the plastic packaging material.
