Popular food delivery app Zomato found itself on the receiving end of public ire on Tuesday after its new promise of "10-minute delivery" seemed to backfire with users and netizens, many of whom pointed out that the new rules were harmful to their delivery partners. It all started after Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal Monday announced the company's plans to start a pilot of 'Zomato Instant' with four stations in Gurugram from next month. Under the initiative, food ordered through Zomato Instant will reach customers in 10 minus or less. Following the announcement, the company has been slammed for implementing rules that may hamper the road safety of its delivery partners.
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Outrage against Zomato
No sooner had Zomato announced the 10-minute delivery plan, Twitterati came up with a variety of tweets, one-liners, jokes and memes to ridicule Zomato.
The jokes soon turned to serious concern with many raising questions about safety of the delivery partners as well as labour rights.
The matter led to a political slugfest as well with several politicians criticising the move. In a post on Twitter, Congress Lok Sabha MP Karti P Chidambaram said, "This is absurd! It's going to put undue pressure on the delivery personnel, who are not employees & who have no benefits or security, who have no bargaining power with @zomato I have raised this in Parliament & have written to the Govt. Will pursue this further." Similarly, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also tweeted, "Please consider the safety of delivery agents - this pressure can be hazardous. I am sure no one has a problem waiting 30 minutes for food delivery, the world won't end if food not (sic) delivered in that time frame, the world won't be any happier at 10-minute delivery."
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The Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) also issued a stern statement regarding the issue, asking Zomato to ensure the safety of their riders.
Many others on Twitter also hit out at the company, calling the instant delivery as unsafe and unwanted and said it would lead to racing by the delivery personnel on the roads thereby risking their lives and also others.
Zomato's response
Following the outrage, Deepinder Goyal took to social media to clarify that there are no penalties for late deliveries and no incentives for on-time deliveries for both 10-minute and 30-minute deliveries, meaning that drivers will be under no pressure to complete deliveries on time at personal risk.
Elaborating on the point about the road safety of drivers, Goyal clarified that the 10-minute delivery will be applicable only for specific nearby locations, and popular and standardised menu.
Responding to the criticism, Goyal said, "Delivery partners are not informed about promised delivery time for both 10-minute and 30-minute deliveries."
He further said Zomato is building new food stations to enable the 10-minute service for specific customer locations only. "Yes, we will also serve you Maggi through our 10-minute food stations :)," he quipped.
Moreover, he said Zomato Instant will only be for items that are popular, standardised, and can therefore be dispatched within two minutes. The approximate kitchen preparation time for 10-minute delivery is 2-4 minutes while the average distance travelled is 1-2 km with 3-6 minutes of time travelled.
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Goyal asserted that Zomato's 10-minute delivery will "lead to lesser time spent on the road per order".
"We continue to educate our delivery partners on road safety and provide accidental/life insurance as well," he added.
(With inputs from PTI)
