One restaurant, 5 names? Swiggy listings spark controversy
What's the story
An investigation by Entrackr has raised concerns over Swiggy's verification systems, review integrity, and advertising fairness. The probe found that five restaurant listings in Gurugram appeared to be the same physical kitchen operating under different names. The establishments—Momo Palace China, Crispy Crunch Momos, The Momos House, Momo Factory and Humpty Momos—all share the same FSSAI license number (20821005002678), address in Sector 11 of Gurugram as well as nearly identical menus and food photographs.
Verification concerns
Onboarding process raises concerns
The findings raise serious questions about Swiggy's onboarding process, which is supposed to verify restaurant credentials before approving listings. The FSSAI number is a unique identifier, and by the time the second, third, fourth and fifth storefronts using the same credentials appeared, Swiggy's systems already had enough information to flag them. However, they were approved anyway. So either Swiggy's verification systems lack basic de-duplication checks for key food compliance identifiers or those checks exist and were bypassed.
Market implications
Distorted ratings and reviews
The existence of multiple listings from the same kitchen could distort ratings and advertising fairness on Swiggy. For instance, if a consumer in Sector 11 ordered from Momo Palace China last month and received cold food, they would leave a one-star review. However, this week, avoiding that listing, they clicked on Crispy Crunch Momos—a different name with no bad reviews—only to find out it was the same shop. This way their one-star review was effectively erased by new listing name.
Business benefits
Reputation laundering mechanism
The possibility of duplicate storefronts raises concerns about potential commercial advantages that benefit both operators and possibly internal teams, facilitating onboarding approvals. Each new listing starts with a reset reputation, meaning negative reviews disappear and recommendation systems treat the restaurant as new. This way, duplicate storefronts can function as reputation laundering mechanisms inside the platform economy.
Disclosure concerns
Questions raised on investor disclosures
The findings also raise questions about Swiggy's investor disclosures. The company regularly reports restaurant partner numbers as a key marketplace metric, but it is unclear whether these figures represent unique physical food businesses or total active storefront listings. This distinction matters because if one kitchen can appear five times, then the marketplace scale itself may look materially different depending on how "restaurant partners" are counted.