As movement of goods around the country has dropped drastically during the ongoing lockdown, logistics players have been pushed to take some tough measures. Logistics startup BlackBuck is letting go of over 200 employees as the company faces massive disruption due to the lockdown, people aware of the development told CNBC-TV18.

The company is in the process to lay off between 200-250 employees, mainly from the customer experience and operations teams, sources said. One source said that the company is trying to get several of the affected employees placed in other organisations.

Blackbuck did not respond to queries.

The company has over 400,000 partner trucks empanelled on its platform, and serves over 30,000 onboard clients, including Asian Paints, Coca Cola, ITC, Tata Steel and Hindustan Unilever. BlackBuck has raised over $200 million in funding from investors such as Accel Partners, B Capital, Flipkart, Goldman Sachs, Tiger Global, and several others.

Another logistics player Ecom Express said it has put hiring on hold and also stopped major capex spends. The company, however, said it will not be laying off any employees.

“The lockdown and related restrictions have adversely impacted volumes. However, we are fortunate to be in a good financial position and as of now, we don’t intend to do any layoffs,” said TA Krishnan, CEO of Ecom Express.

“These are clearly testing times and we will do everything to protect our people. The cost base across the board is being reviewed. We have put on hold most of our hiring and major capex spends as we are reworking our business plan,” he added.

Ecom Express had raised $36 million from British firm CDC in December. It also counts Warburg Pincus as an investor.

Since the beginning of the lockdown on March 25, logistics players have seen movement impacted as states closed borders, non-essential products were not allowed to be transported, and procurement of curfew passes on the ground proved to be a challenge.

While Blacbuck co-founder and CEO Rajesh Yabaji did not respond to calls or messages on the layoffs, he had told CNBC-TV 18 on March 26 that since only the movement of essential goods were allowed, 60-70 percent goods were not moving in the country, and that a score of truckers were left jobless.

Logistics players are expected to see a boost as the Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday said that movement of goods will be allowed starting April 20 without distinction between essential and non-essential products.

E-commerce companies will also be able to deliver products that were not earlier classified as essential starting April 20.

Also read: Companies cutting salaries during lockdown will need employees' consent

Follow all coronavirus updates live here