Zomato to allow sharing of customer contact numbers with restaurants in transparency push

Zomato to allow sharing of customer contact numbers with restaurants in transparency push

Food-delivery major Zomato has begun testing a feature that allows customers to voluntarily share their phone numbers with restaurants for marketing and promotional communication, marking a notable shift in how the listed platform manages access to user information.

According to the company, the feature is currently in a limited pilot phase and gives users complete control over whether their contact details are shared.

The announcement comes at a time when Zomato has been engaged in ongoing discussions with the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) over giving restaurants more visibility into their own customers — a long-standing demand from the industry and one of the most persistent friction points between restaurants and food-delivery platforms.

“We at Zomato are in the early stages of launching a feature on the app which gives customers the option to opt-in to receive marketing and promotional updates directly from restaurants. If and when consent is provided – only phone number will be shared with the restaurant. No other information will be shared. There’s nothing sneaky or automatic about it,” Aditya Mangla, CEO of food delivery at Zomato, said in a LinkedIn post.

Why has data sharing been a contentious issue?

Access to customer information has been at the centre of disagreements between restaurants and aggregators for years. The NRAI, which represents more than 5 lakh restaurants, has consistently argued that platforms “mask” customer data and prevent restaurants from building direct relationships with diners, limiting their ability to run loyalty or remarketing programmes.

The association has also initiated similar discussions with Swiggy, Zomato’s largest competitor, seeking a structured, consent-led mechanism for sharing basic contact details.

As Moneycontrol reported earlier, the data-access debate is part of a broader set of concerns raised by industry bodies, which include steep discounting, visibility controls on the platforms, questions around platform neutrality, and conflicts arising from private labels and quick-commerce kitchens operated by aggregators. (https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/startup/double-whammy-hotel-federation-fhrai-goes-after-swiggy-zomato-as-nrai-flags-private-label-concerns-on-quick-commerce-12907808.html)

How does this tie into ongoing regulatory scrutiny?

The rollout of the feature comes even as Zomato and Swiggy remain under investigation by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The NRAI’s antitrust complaint alleges anti-competitive practices such as preferential treatment of platform-owned brands, exclusive tie-ups and restrictions that affect how restaurants can reach and retain customers independently.

Information asymmetry — particularly the inability to access even basic customer details — has been one of the central issues highlighted in the NRAI’s case.

What happens next?

Zomato has not disclosed the scale of the pilot or the timeline for a broader rollout. Swiggy, too, has not said whether it plans to adopt a similar consent-based system for restaurant partners.

While the feature does not resolve all outstanding disputes between aggregators and restaurant bodies, it marks one of the most concrete operational shifts by Zomato as it attempts to reduce tensions with partners amid ongoing regulatory oversight.