The user took this issue to his LinkedIn handle yesterday (16 January)
Zomato was charging “veg mode enablement fee” of INR 2
Later Goyal apologised for charging the fee and took it down on the same day
Zomato’s founder Deepinder Goyal has apologised to one of the users for charging a “veg mode enablement fee” of INR 2 on its platform and called it stupid.
The user took this issue to his LinkedIn handle yesterday (16 January), when it caught Goyal’s attention.
“Zomato’s latest masterstroke—introducing an “extra charge” for the veg enablement fleet—has officially turned us into a premium subscription plan,” the user said in his post.
He further added that it has gone from “green and healthy” to “green and pricey.”
Commenting on the post, Goyal accepted that the fee for enabling veg mode is “stupid”. Furthermore, he assured that it would be taken down on the same day. Later, the founder commented that the fee was removed “45 minutes ago”.
While Zomato
has been on an expansion spree since last year, the foodtech major has seen several ups and downs during this time.
The company bought Paytm’s movie and event ticketing business for INR 2,048 Cr in August 2024. However, the platform saw backlash after the tickets for Diljit Dosanjh’s Dil-Luminati tour sold out in a short time but were later spotted on secondary platforms at inflated prices.
As per Inc42’s report, Zomato also issued a formal notice to Viagogo for selling tickets without authorisation and filed multiple complaints against other scalping or secondary sales sites.
Last year, the company also launched a ‘pure veg fleet’ with green uniforms to cater to customers with ‘100% vegetarian dietary preference’. The service sparked conversation on social media as many users questioned the introduction of a fleet with a separate uniform.
Additionally, the users cited concerns that many resident welfare associations (RWAs) might put a complete ban on the entry of Zomato delivery partners who are not in the green-coloured uniform.
In 2023, Zomato also took down its World Environment Day advertisement, “Kachra” after it faced widespread backlash from users online for allegedly showcasing caste discrimination.
