With the ever increasing threat of COVID-19 pandemic in India, the Prime Minister of India, on April 14, 2020, announced an extension of the nationwide lockdown order till May 3, 2020.

Since our previous update, we have set out below certain key developments, as on April 15, 2020 till IST 6 p.m.

A.      Consolidated Revised Guidelines:

1.      The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a letter dated April 14, 2020, directing continuation of restrictions in relation to the lockdown measures throughout this period. Further, the Ministry also issued an order on April 15, 2020 setting out the consolidated revised guidelines on the measures to be adopted by the relevant authorities whereby, in addition to the directions already issued and the relaxations previous granted vide the guidelines issued in the past, the State Governments/Union Territories will be allowed to permit the operations of certain additional activities w.e.f. April 20, 2020 in a phased manner, subject to strict enforcement of/compliance with the existing guidelines. The objective behind this order is to provide certain relaxations to mitigate the economic hardship faced by the people.

The activities allowed in sectors which will be permitted to operate inter alia include (activities listed herein below are additions to the activities previously permitted in the said sectors):

(i)      Commercial and private establishments comprising:

a.       IT and IT enabled services, with up to 50% strength;

b.       Government approved common service centers at Gram Panchayat level;

c.       E-commerce companies and vehicles used by them, with necessary permissions;

d.      Cold storage and warehousing services, including inter alia ports, airports, railway stations, container depots etc.;

e.       Establishments used/earmarked for quarantine facilities; and

f.        Services provided by self-employed persons.

(ii)     Industrial establishments (both private & government):

a.       Industries operating in rural areas;

b.     Manufacturing and other establishments with access control in SEZs and EOUs, industrial estates and townships. Provided they make arrangements for stay of workers at their premises or adjacent buildings;

c.       Food processing industries in rural areas;

d.       Manufacturing of IT hardware;

e.       Manufacturing units of packaging material;

f.        Jute industries with staggered shifts and social distancing;

g.      Oil and gas exploration/refinery; and

h.      Brick kilns in rural areas.

In addition to the sectors detailed above, the other sectors permitted to operate include: (a) Health services (including AYUSH); (b) Agriculture & related activities such as fisheries, plantations, animal husbandry etc.; (c) Financial sector comprising RBI & RBI regulated financial markets and entities, bank branches and ATMs, IRDAI, SEBI etc. (d) Social sector comprising disbursement of social security pensions, care home etc; (e) Online teaching/distance learning; (f) MNREGA works; (g) Public utility such as postal service, water, sanitation and waste management; (h) Transport of goods/cargo, (i) Supply of essential goods – hygiene items, fruits, vegetables etc.; (j) construction activities such as renewable energy projects, roads, irrigation projects etc.; and (k) government office.

2.      The guidelines also provide that prior to allowing the operation of the additional permitted activities, the States/UT/district administration shall ensure that the standard operation procedures (SOPs) for social distancing are in place at all the premises where the operations are to be carried out and wherefrom the services are to be provided.

3.     None of the above activities will be permitted in areas designated as ‘hotspots’ under the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. Hotspots refer to areas of large COVID-19 outbreak or cluster with significant spread.

B.       Relaxation by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (“EPFO”):

The EPFO vide a circular dated April 15, 2020 has extended the time limit for filing and making the EPF contributions for the month of March 2020 by period of 30 days, i.e. the EPF contribution for the month of March 2020 can now be filed and paid up to May 15, 2020 instead of April 15, 2020.

Please see here for our detailed article on the revised guidelines.

Please see here for our dedicated COVID – 19 legal resource page.