Demonetisation: Flipkart, Snapdeal Lift Cash on Delivery Restrictions

Soon after the announcement of demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes, e-commerce giants like Amazon, Snapdeal, and Flipkart disabled or limited cash on delivery on purchases due to severe cash deficit. A few days later, Amazon India reintroduced cash on delivery, and now even Flipkart and Snapdeal have resumed full support.

Both the Indian ec-ommerce giants have announced that cash on delivery is now fully operational for purchases site-wide. As a result of demonetisation, the e-commerce giants had introduced various alternate payment options like wallet on delivery, deferred payments to a later date, and even had card on delivery option enabled across the country.

(Also see: FreeCharge Launches Wallet on Delivery; Paytm, MobiKwik Will Follow Suit)

Snapdeal had limited cash on delivery, and was offering for purchases beyond Rs. 2,000 only, below which digital payment was made mandatory. It also served a warning that no Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes will be accepted during delivery. Now, the above-mentioned cash limit has been removed, and a Snapdeal spokesperson in an emailed statement said, "We support the demonetisation effort by the government, and are committed to making this transition as frictionless and convenient as possible for our consumers. We worked closely with our users throughout the last week to ensure there was no lapse in their experience, and they have responded by swiftly adopting alternative payment modes, especially the Wallet on Delivery option. We will continue to monitor the situation closely, and do as required to ensure it is business as usual on our platform."

(Also see: Demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 Notes Is Digital India's Gain)

Flipkart had also limited its cash on delivery purchase, and had ramped up card on delivery even in remote areas, to ease cash crunch. The e-commerce giant is also now accepting cash on delivery up to any limit. In an emailed statement, the company's spokesperson said, "Flipkart has resumed cash on delivery fully up to any amount. As the government announced demonetization, Flipkart proactively reached out to its customers whose orders were in flight to educate them and offer additional time to procure cash. Flipkart took the initiative to provide every possible facility for a smooth and seamless order processing. We significantly ramped up our card on delivery facility and covered majority of pin-codes, also reaching remote towns. The government's decision has given a big push to adoption of digital instruments like wallets and UPI. In the last few days, we witnessed a lot of movement towards electronic transactions and we expect the economy to further support this change. To encourage customers to adopt other payment modes, we also introduced wallet cashbacks, which are being actively used by multiple sellers and brands."

(Also see: Demonetisation Intent Good, but Needed More Research: Sachin Bansal)

As mentioned, Amazon India had completely disabled the cash on delivery option, citing reasons beneficial to the customer. "We have disabled COD for you to save cash for essential payments," the ecommerce site claimed. However, it was the first to bring cash on delivery back on track.