Flipkart came under fire recently for telling a customer that the northeastern state of Nagaland is “outside India”. After coming across an advertisement of Flipkart’s Big Billion Sale, a customer from Kohima had asked the e-commerce platform why it was not delivering items in the state. The Nagaland resident had written: “We still didn’t get independence and we are still a part of India. Treat all states equally areeh!”
To this, Flipkart’s customer support had replied saying: “Sorry to hear that. We appreciate your interest in shopping with us. However, sellers do not provide our services outside India.”
Flipkart deleted the reply later, but many had taken screenshots by then and it went viral in no time with several persons calling out the e-commerce giant. Many also highlighted how such discrimination is frequently faced by people of the northeast and how lack of awareness leads to such insensitivity.
Rupin Sharma, Nagaland’s Director General of Police for Borders Affairs, wrote: “Although not with Flipkart, even I had this experience once. Nagaland is India #Flipkart.”
Flipkart eventually apologised for the “inadvertent” error and wrote: “We are extremely sorry about the inadvertent error earlier. We strive to ensure serviceability across the nation, including regions in Nagaland. We are happy to connect with you and provide currently available options…”.
