KATHMANDU: The Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD) has implemented the time card system for the vehicles plying in Kathmandu valley from Sunday, effectively shutting down the delivery services of essential goods including groceries and food deliveries.

A meeting of District Administration, security personnel and MTPD decided to enforce a time card system in the valley to curb the large number of vehicles plying the roads. According to the rule, all government vehicles should operate between 9-10:30 am and 5-6 pm. Similarly, all vehicles belonging to banks should operate between 9-10:30 am and 3:30 -5 pm.

Meanwhile, the deliveries of groceries and vegetables should be completed before 10 am.

With the implementation of this rule, various e-commerce and delivery services have stopped their services until further notice. The delivery service providers have been delivering essential goods to the doorsteps of the people and helping with containment of spread of the transmission by limiting number of people gathering at public stores to buy essentials.

People are taking to social media, requesting the authorities to think over and revise on the move.

The ‘Time Card’ method has actually made delivery of groceries and essentials even more difficult. It benefits the likes of Bhatbhateni by restricting other delivery services/e-commerce after 10am. @setopati @Online_khabar @kathmandupost @thehimalayan @kathmandupati1 https://t.co/SCj2PfyGae

— Amigo Khadka (@AmigoKhadka) May 10, 2020

Various delivery service providers have urged the government to revise the impractical rules and allow the delivery of the essential goods throughout the day, stating that the new rules only benefit the big department stores while ignoring the plight of small-medium businesses. Delivery services like Foodmandu, Organic Online, among others, have issued notices stating they have to suspend their services owing to the new rules.

Earlier, the government had allowed home delivery services of essential goods bringing some relief to the people. The government itself had delved into the service with the Food Management and Trade Company Ltd (FMTC), a subsidiary of Nepal Food Corporation and National Trading Ltd, under the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, starting delivery service.