Localised lockdowns, closure of malls impacting business, employment in organised retail, says SCAI

The Shopping Centres Association of India (SCAI) on Sunday said that businesses have been severely impacted, with the revenue falling by almost 50 per cent due to localised lockdowns to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

Many state governments have imposed restrictions and localised lockdowns to stop the spread of the virus.

"... local restrictions, closure of malls in few states, weekend curfews have impacted business, recovery, and employment associated with organised retail," the association said in a statement.

On an average during pre-Covid days, the industry was clocking Rs 15,000 crore per month and "had reached the same during mid of March 2021, but, with the local restrictions, almost 50 per cent revenue got slashed", it said.

As per the SCAI, malls across India had recovered close to 90 per cent of their business and 75 per cent of their footfalls which again dropped drastically due to the local restrictions.

The SCAI said in order to supplement the government's effort in carrying out an extensive vaccination drive, it has also approached the state governments to conduct the vaccination camps at malls.

The industry body has also urged to treat mall employees as frontline workers and should be vaccinated on priority irrespective of their age.

In the wake of rising cases of Covid-19 in Maharashtra, the state government had declared a 15-day curfew from last Wednesday, entailing stricter curbs on public activities but stopped short of announcing a full-scale lockdown.

Many other states including Delhi have announced weekend and night curfews to control the spread of Covid-19.