Mumbai, May 7 (IANS): Amazon India on Thursday announced the launch of delivery service of essential items to the residents of the containment zones in Mumbai, in collaboration with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

"Following successful pilots over the last few weeks, the company has scaled up the initiative to deliver essentials in many containment zones in the city. This initiative will support residents in these zones who face restrictions in movement," the company said in a statement.

Amazon will deliver these orders to a designated delivery point in the vicinity of the containment zones, from where volunteers will further deliver the packages to the customer's doorsteps, it said.

"Our collaboration with BMC is intended to support those in the containment zones to access essential items conveniently and safely. We are humbled with the feedback we have received from the customers during the pilots, especially on the ease with which they could receive items that were essential for their daily needs, and we thank the BMC for the opportunity to serve the people of Mumbai," said Prakash Rochlani, Director, Last Mile Operations, Amazon India.

The statement added: "The designated interim delivery points will operate in co-ordination with the POC at the society and designated BMC containment zone officer."

The customers would need to add the essential items they need to their cart, and then select their delivery location based on the containment zone they reside in, it said, adding that they would be notified of the delivery status of their packages through SMS, email and app updates just like the usual Amazon orders update.

These would then be handed over to the volunteers, who would pick up packages from the common delivery point and place them at the doorsteps of the customers. All of this will be done while adhering to the social distancing norms and via a no-contact delivery model for the safety of the customers, volunteers and the Amazon delivery associates, the company said.