Deepinder Goyal clarifies Zomato’s 10-minute delivery plan after outrage

“No penalties for late delivery, no incentive for on-time delivery,” read one of the posts. “ Delivery partners are not informed about the promised time.”

“..10-minute delivery is as safe for our delivery partners as 30-minute delivery,” Goyal wrote in a tweet.

ETtech first
reported on March 18, that Zomato was in discussion with restaurant partners and cloud kitchen to pilot 10-minute delivery starting in Gurugram.

ETtech

Goyal said Zomato was building “ new food stations” to enable this service for specific customer locations. Food stations are 700-1,200 square feet “co-working” style facilities in warehouses that will house multiple brands.

Discover the stories of your interest

Zomato is leasing new facilities and also using Hyperpure (its business-to-business supplies business for restaurant partners) warehouses for these food stations.

Goyal’s clarification
comes a day after the food-delivery firm’s announcement of a 10- minute delivery pilot. Social media was abuzz with posts criticising Zomato for putting delivery partners at risk by asking them to deliver food in 10 minutes. Karti P Chidambaram, member of Parliament for Sivaganga also raised concerns about the quick service model.

Goyal responded to Chidambaram’s tweet with an explanation.

Ultra-fast delivery became a phenomenon in India last year after Zepto, Instamart and Blinkit launched their 10-minute delivery services for grocery and essentials. Zomato is the first food delivery company to pilot an initiative to deliver food in 10 minutes.

“10-minute delivery will be for specific nearby locations, popular and standardised menu items only,” Goyal tweeted.

Ultra-fast delivery initiatives have been widely criticised for putting pressure on delivery partners and forcing them to drive dangerously.
When Blinkit (formerly Grofers) pivoted to 10-minute grocery delivery last year it faced similar criticism.

At that time, its founder Albinder Dhindsa had similarly defended his company’s decision. “Our stores are densely located that we can deliver 90% of the orders under 15 minutes even if our riders drove at 10km/ph,” he wrote. “Our riders are not (dis)incentivised to deliver orders fast. They do it add their own pace and rhythm,” he had said.

Zomato is currently
in talks to merge with grocery delivery startup Blinkit, ET reported on March 15. The company also announced that it had approved a plan to loan $150 million to Blinkit in phases.