Users struggle to buy, repair mobile, laptop

Pankaj.Doval@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:04.04.2020

D Vinayak, a senior professional with a media company in the Delhi-NCR region, is extremely worried over the last two days. His laptop — the only way he gets connected to his office and manages to carry out his assignments from home — has crashed.

On contacting the manufacturer, the staff at the helpline tried to sort out his problem over phone, but it turned out to be an issue with a specific part that needs replacement. “But movement of our repair staff is not allowed at residential societies. So, we cannot do anything,” he was told.

Worried that he may not be able to contribute to his office, he tried buying a new laptop. “Sorry, but there are no deliveries happening now, and our retail stores are also closed,” he got the answer, leaving him completely cut-off from his professional commitments.

RESTRICTED MOVEMENT

Hospitals, govt offices find it difficult to repair and replenish

I have a smartphone, but it is not sufficient for my work that requires a bigger screen and preparation of presentations, and other important stuff.” Vinayak is not alone. Neelima Sharma, a home-maker in Chennai, has been at odds after her refrigerator stopped working. All the food and other grocery essentials that she had stored are going waste — a big worry during the Covid-19 lockdown when people are conserving every bit of consumables that they have.

With no chance of a repair, a desperate Sharma has now posted an appeal in the WhatsApp group of her apartment, requesting anyone with “even a small spare refrigerator to lend/lease” it to her for some days.

With work from home (WFH) becoming the norm in the era of social distancing, many services that were broadly seen as “non-essential” till some time back, are now defining the new-age work culture. Repairs of laptops, printers, refrigerators, ACs, smartphones and even televisions are an absolute necessity when you are confined to your house under emergency conditions.

And it’s not just residential areas, even hospitals and government offices are also finding it difficult to repairs or replenish stuff. It’s near impossible to carry out any repair work swiftly without an emergency pass.

“Provision of these services is an absolute essential in such times. People are literally under house arrest and the only way we can drive productivity is through work-from-home. But if the repairs cannot be carried out, you not only end up wasting crucial man hours, but it’s also a loss for the country’s GDP,” Nitin Kunkolienker, president of IT hardware industry body MAIT, said.

Kunkolienker said that having the freedom to work from remote locations — home in the case of Covid-19 — serves the purpose of creating social distancing. However, he rues that enforcement agencies are not open to issuing even the bareminimum passes easily for the movement and passage of the support staff and essentials to carry out repairs. “Many states think that it is a favour that we are seeking… it’s not a favour, rather a necessity.”

LG Electronics has major AC deployments across hospitals, but is finding it difficult to get curfew passes. “We have not been able to carry out service in a big way. For important calls, we are guiding through phone. We are facing a difficult task, and are now raising it up with our industry association as well as concerned state governments,” Vijay Babu, vice-president for home appliances and ACs at LG India, said.

Such is the scale of the problem that a senior employee at Samsung India has been unable to replace the faulty laptop charging cable of his family member. “How do I get it done? I have no answer,” he said, requesting anonymity.

An official with a top MNC computer maker said that their “service staff was beaten up by policemen” in the early days of the lockdown. “What do we do now? We can’t risk the safety and security of our support staff.”

Manish Sharma, president of Panasonic India, said that his company has sought curfew passes for certain number of service staff to cater to critical installation such as in hospitals. “We are still not sure how it will be given, but are working on it.”