Zomato Replies To Online vs Offline Food Prices Controversy

Ordering food online has become hassle-free with the advent of several food delivery apps in the last few years. But sometimes the convenience of getting food from your favourite restaurant with one click comes at a price. A Zomato customer recently shared a discrepancy between the rates at the restaurant and on the app. His post went viral, sparking a debate on whether or not the surge is justified.  

Rahul Kabra posted images of his food order bills, comparing the prices of the same dishes at the restaurant and on Zomato.

He found that his order, consisting of Veg black pepper sauce, vegetable fried rice, and mushroom momo, which on Zomato cost him Rs 689 could have been purchased for Rs 512 offline.

"I am doing an apple to apple comparison to online vs offline order. Here is what I noticed - Cost for offline order - INR 512. Cost for Zomato order - INR 690 (after applied discount of INR 75). Cost escalation 34.76% per order at INR 178 = (690-512)/512," Mr Kabra wrote in his post.

He also highlighted that people will stop ordering from Zomato or switch to other apps after they become aware of the high costs of their food delivery.

Read the post here:

The post has gone viral and has already garnered over 11,000 reactions and 1,700 comments.

The food delivery app has issued a clarification saying that the restaurant partners set the price of dishes.

Replying to Mr Kabra's post, Zomato wrote, "Zomato being an intermediary platform between a customer and a restaurant, does not have any control over the prices implemented by the restaurant partners on our platform. That said, we have conveyed your feedback to the restaurant partner and have requested them to look into this."