A Delhi-based social activist recently ignited an emotional online discussion after recounting an incident involving a Zomato delivery executive. In a LinkedIn post, Kiran Verma, founder of Simply Blood, detailed an encounter that unfolded while he was parking his car in Noida. He observed a Zomato delivery partner, referred to as "Vishal," eating on his bike, initially assuming the food was intended for a customer.
However, upon engaging in conversation, Verma discovered a story of unforeseen circumstances and resilience, leading him to express gratitude towards Zomato and its CEO, Deepinder Goyal.
Verma wrote in his post, "Thank you Zomato for this sweet unethical act! Yesterday, I was parking my car in Noida, when I saw this biker eating on his bike. As that was the only place to park the car nearby, so I thought to wait for him. That's when I clicked the first picture and I thought he would be another delivery guy eating someone's food." Approaching the delivery agent, Verma politely inquired about the time required to finish his meal to park his car accordingly. The agent responded, "Just a few minutes, sir."
Noting that the delivery agent sounded like an "educated guy," Verma engaged in a brief exchange of names and inquired about the reason for eating lunch at nearly 5 pm on Holi. The delivery executive explained, "Sir, I picked up this order at around 2 pm and I went to deliver the food but nobody turned up to receive the order."
Consequently, Zomato instructed the agent to mark the order as "delivered" to prevent additional operational costs. The post also mentioned that if the order is not delivered, the delivery executive does not get paid unless the product or order is marked as delivered. After marking the food as "delivered," the agent can then officially do whatever they want with the food order.
Reflecting on this practice, Verma stated, "It may sound unethical or wrong, but it is good practice, because that's how delivery partners save little money on their food and wastage can be controlled."
Concluding his post, Verma tagged Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal, expressing appreciation for the impact such policies have on gig workers. He wrote, "Thank you Deepinder Goyal for building hope in such an impactful way. Hope you all are close to your families celebrating the festival and not like millions of gig workers, who are supporting us to creating those moments into memories."
Since being shared, the post has garnered more than 1,200 reactions and several comments.
One user commented, "Kiran Verma very touching post. Thank you for sharing. It's very unfortunate that so many people are working so hard when some of us are celebrating. I have consciously started making a small difference by saying thank you to all the delivery persons and by offering them water during summers. It costs nothing but it might help them feel a little better. Tipping, I prefer giving them directly rather than through the apps, it can help them have some immediate relief rather than waiting for payments to come through company systems. It's a very important point you have highlighted."
Another user remarked, "This was really heartwarming." A third user added, "Your post beautifully describes how a startup becomes a livelihood and hope for many in an unthinkable and unthank-able way!"
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