Punjab issues new guidelines for SMEs as businesses resume

Business owners are to display SOPs issued by the government in a prominent place of the shop

LAHORE: The Punjab government on Monday issued new standard operating procedures (SOPs) for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as business activities resumed following the ease of the  lockdown imposed due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

According to the new guidelines issued by the province’s healthcare secretary, Captain (retd) Muhammad Usman, business owners have to display SOPs issued by the government in a prominent place of their shops.

Hand washing facility and sanitisers have been directed to be made available in shops, and the entire staff has been directed to wash hands repeatedly.

The cashiers would have to wear polythene gloves while receiving and returning cash. Surfaces would have to be cleaned with 0.05% chlorine solution, whereas waste bins must also be placed.

Under the new SOPs, unnecessary entry into shops must not be permitted. Only a certain number of customers would be allowed in, so that a distance of at least three feet among them is ensured.

The health secretary further notified that a policy of non-return of goods would be followed, whereas home delivery was suggested to be preferred by customers.

Moreover, air conditioners are to not be operated in a closed shop. The shopkeepers would have to deal with customers without wasting any time and not allow them to loiter around.

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Since older people are more vulnerable to the virus, they have to be dealt with on a priority, the SOPs further outline.

Garments and jewellery shops are to not allow their customers to try on their products, whereas attendants at footwear stores are to wash and sanitise their hands after dealing with every customer.

The SOP guidelines further instruct salespersons at pharmacies and medical stores to wear surgical masks and sanitise their hands after taking prescriptions from patients.

Maintenance shops would have to disinfect every product whilst receiving and returning items.

Customer are to stand at a distance of one metre while shopping from a wheelbarrow and make sure they do not touch the cart. 

While Punjab has allowed several industrial sectors to resume operations, Sindh lags behind in easing the restrictions imposed amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Business and industry leaders have stressed the need for all provinces to adopt a uniform lockdown policy with equal business opportunities for their citizens.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh stressed that the federal government has handled the coronavirus pandemic situation very wisely to rein in the spread of the highly contagious disease.