Zomato’s recent announcement of providing food delivery services in under 10 minutes has drawn widespread flak, with many raising concerns about the safety and security of the delivery partners who would be forced to fulfill this promise. Among those who have raised concerns are the Chennai traffic police, who on Saturday, March 26, said that they held a meeting with representatives from food aggregator apps and e-commerce service providers. Matters including road safety and traffic concerns were reportedly discussed.
Responding to the Chennai police, Zomato has clarified that the project has not been launched in Chennai yet. The company also stated at the meeting that the 10-minute delivery option is a “pilot project”, meant to be floated in only a few cities. The meeting was chaired by Additional Commissioner of Police Traffic, Greater Chennai Police, Kapil Kumar.
After Zomato’s announcement regarding the 10-minute deliveries, Chennai Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal had told TOI that in the meeting to be held with the aggregator app representatives, the companies would be asked to “clarify how their employees can deliver food within ten minutes, considering the traffic.” The TOI report also notes that an earlier study had revealed how 73% of delivery executives drive rashly, jumped traffic lights or were on the phone will driving. The meeting on Saturday also reviewed concerns that had been raised in a similar such meeting held in July last year, to highlight traffic violation issues and reviewed what progress the e-commerce sites had taken in addressing this issue.
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal had announced on March 21, that the company would soon be starting food delivery in 10 minutes. This led to a furor online, with questions cropping up yet again on the safety of the delivery personnel delivering the food — and how it was possible for food to be completed and delivered in ten minutes. Recently, the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) urged Zomato to think of delivery partners’ safety while delivering orders in under 10 minutes. A statement given by IFAT General Secretary Shaik Salauddin said that companies such as Swiggy, Zomato, Blinkit and others are assuring delivery within a set period. In that competition, Zomato is trying to be the fastest to provide groceries and meals to acquire more customers, and that the lives of delivery partners is at stake, it said. He added that while the companies are luring customers with the “fantasy of instant delivery” but are washing their hands off issues by concealing matters.