Coronavirus: Amazon India launches Special Fund to help SMB partners in logistics
The Fund will support delivery service partners and transportation partners associated with Amazon, and provide financial aid for the month of April 2020.
Small and Medium Businesses (SMB) across India have been financially impacted due to the nationwide lockdown in these unprecedented times. In an effort to enable the SMBs in logistics that are heavily reliant on the company, Amazon India has introduced a Partner Support Fund. The size of the fund in India was not announced.
This Partner Support Fund for small and medium businesses in logistics will be available to delivery service partners (DSP) and select transportation partners in India to help adjust their business model to the new realities posed during the lockdown.
Through the one-time disbursement, the fund will support the partners in multiple ways. This includes enabling them to provide financial aid to close to 40,000 of their staff for the month of April 2020. Additionally, it will help cover some critical fixed infrastructure costs, and support liquidity and cash flow for these businesses as they resume and scale their operations post lockdown.
Akhil Saxena, VP - Customer Fulfilment Operations, APAC, MENA, and LATAM, Amazon, said,
“Amazon is committed to keeping India safe by delivering essentials to customers at their doorstep. We are equally invested in helping our partners overcome the unforeseen disruption in business. This one-time special Partner Support Fund is designed to enable partners to assist close to 40,000 of their associates through financial hardships, and will help our small business partners in logistics get back on their feet at the earliest when the economy reopens. Our commitment to partners and to India is for the long-term, and this fund, in addition to other measures, aims to support SMBs overcome the situation with relative ease.”
The special Amazon Partner Support Fund follows the recent announcement of the global $25 million Amazon Relief Fund (ARF) in India. ARF can be utilised by qualifying individuals who have been quarantined or diagnosed with COVID-19. Amazon India has extended the Amazon Relief Fund to eligible delivery associates who are part of the Delivery Service Partner programme, Amazon Flex programme, and its trucking partners providing transportation support.
Amazon India has also begun temperature checks in all its buildings and warehouses, has increased the frequency and intensity of cleaning at all sites, adjusted practices so that teams can adhere to social distancing, whether at the site or even while making deliveries to customers.
All associates are also required to wear reusable face coverings throughout their shifts at the sites, and also when they are out on the road making deliveries.
(Edited by Apoorva Puranik)
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