After facing a backlash online from a section of people over the launch of its ‘Pure Veg Mode’ service, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal on Wednesday said the company has decided to remove the on-ground segregation of the fleet which was to wear green uniforms.
“All our riders — both our regular fleet, and our fleet for vegetarians, will wear the colour red,” Goyal said, adding that “the fleet meant for vegetarian orders will not be identifiable on the ground (but will show on the app that your veg orders will be served by the veg only fleet).”
Zomato had on Tuesday announced the launch of a Pure Veg Mode service to cater specifically to customers who have a pure vegetarian dietary preference.
For the ‘Pure Veg Mode’ the company will rope in select restaurants serving exclusively vegetarian food, and exclude any establishments offering non-vegetarian items, Goyal had said, adding that pure veg fleet will use green delivery boxes instead of the standard red ones.
The decision, however, did not sit well with a section of people, who said it would further “strengthen caste segregation”. People also raised concerns that Zomato’s regular fleet may be barred by some societies and resident welfare associations.
Subsequently, Goyal said in a late night tweet that the food delivery platform will “roll it back in a heartbeat” in case there is a negative social repercussions.
In a long post on X, Goyal also sought to allay concerns that Zomato’s regular fleet may be barred by some societies and RWAs. “We now realise that even some of our customers could get into trouble with their landlords, and that would not be a nice thing if that happened because of us,” he said.
Addressing the backlash, Goyal said, “Thanks everyone for talking about this last night. You made us understand the unintended consequences of this rollout. All the love, and all the brickbats were all so useful – and helped us get to this optimal point.”
