On March 21, Zomato’s founder Deepinder Goyal had announced the plan of launching ‘Zomato Instant’ to deliver food in 10 minutes. He had added that the instant services will start first in Gurgaon from April with four finishing stations. However, the announcement was not received well by a large number of people, including politicians. Some mocked the decision, others raised their concerns about the safety of delivery agents. Lok Sabha MP Karti P Chidambaram even wrote to the Government and took to the issue to the Parliament.
Twitter Calls The Move ‘Hazardous’ And ‘Unnecessary’
Chidambaram posted a tweet stating that the new system might put immense pressure on the delivery valets. He added that the valets have no security or bargaining power. Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi took to Twitter and called the move ‘hazardous.’ Columnist and actor Suhel Seth wrote on Twitter, “The 10-minute delivery offer from @zomato is both dangerous and unnecessary: more than anything, it will endanger the lives of both riders as also people on roads and so something best avoided.”
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. https://t.co/fH8yflloiY pic.twitter.com/PfQIe2nfR4
— Karti P Chidambaram (@KartiPC) March 21, 2022
Well said ma’am! 👏 Founders should take care of their workers before committing to such short timeframe
— Divya Gandotra Tandon (@divya_gandotra) March 22, 2022
If a restaurant served my food in ten minutes, I’d be worried about the food. #Zomato
— Lakshmi Chaudhry (@ElChaudhry) March 22, 2022
Also Read: These 6 Brands Deliver Pesticide-Free Milk Across India Directly From Their Farms
How Did Zomato Respond After Backlash?
Clarifying the 10-minute delivery plan, Goyal posted the following:
- Zomato Instant to be limited to specific nearby locations only
- The delivery service will provide only popular, standardised food items
- There will be no promised delivery time
- No penalties for delivery delays
- No incentives for on-time deliveries
- New food stations to come up to enable the delivery service only to nearby locations
- Zomato Instant kitchen preparation time to be 2-4 minutes and distance travelled would be 1-2 kilometres in 3-6 minutes
- 10-minute delivery to ensure that the delivery partners spend less time on the road
- Education on road safety to be given to the delivery partners
What are your thoughts on the above?