Zomato CEO apologizes for veg-mode fee, calls it 'stupid' decision
What's the story
Deepinder Goyal, the CEO of Zomato, has publicly apologized for a controversial ₹2 veg-mode enablement fee imposed by the food delivery platform. The apology came in response to a LinkedIn post criticizing the charge. Goyal acknowledged the error and promised immediate removal of this fee. He described the decision as "absolutely stupid on our part," and expressed his regret over the incident.
Internal changes
Goyal assures corrective measures within the team
In his apology, Goyal also assured that necessary changes will be implemented in the team to avoid such incidents in the future. He said, "Will also fix what's needed to fix in the team so that such sh*t doesn't happen again." At the time of writing, Zomato was not showing the veg-mode enablement fee on orders. Instead, standard platform charges of ₹10 plus Goods and Services Tax (GST) and restaurant charges were levied.
Initial criticism
LinkedIn post that sparked the controversy
The first one to criticize Zomato was Rohit Ranjan, Assistant VP of e-commerce at Route To Market. In his LinkedIn post, he expressed disappointment over Zomato's new fee, writing "Being a vegetarian in India these days feels like a curse! Zomato's latest masterstroke—introducing an 'extra charge' for the veg enablement fleet—has officially turned us into a premium subscription plan." Zomato had launched 'Pure Veg Mode' and 'Pure Veg Fleet' in March 2024 for customers with a 100% vegetarian dietary preference.