Amid an outcry over its announcement of a 'pure veg' fleet, Zomato has said all its delivery partners will continue to wear red, rolling back its decision to introduce a green uniform for those delivering food to vegetarians under the new service.
"While we are going to continue to have a fleet for vegetarians, we have decided to remove the on-ground segregation of this fleet on the ground using the colour green. All our riders - both our regular fleet, and our fleet for vegetarians, will wear the colour red," Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal tweeted this morning.
Mr Goyal explained that customers who opt for the 'pure veg' option can see on the mobile app that their orders are being delivered by the 'veg only' fleet.
"This will ensure that our red uniform delivery partners are not incorrectly associated with non-veg food, and blocked by any RWAs or societies during any special days... our rider's physical safety is of paramount importance to us," he added.
"We now realise that even some of our customers could get into trouble with their landlords, and that would not be a nice thing if that happened because of us," Mr Goyal said in the post.
He also thanked the social media for raising these points following the announcement of the "pure veg" service yesterday.
"You made us understand the unintended consequences of this rollout. All the love, and all the brickbats were all so useful - and helped us get to this optimal point. We are always listening, without unnecessary ego, or pride. We look forward to continue serving you," he said.
The announcement of the "pure veg" service and the separate colour code sparked a massive row on social media yesterday, with some users calling it a form of modern-day casteism. Others had pointed out how this may lead to a ban on the entry of red-uniform delivery partners in apartment complexes where vegetarians are in a majority. This, they said, would lead to inconvenience for those ordering non-vegetarian food. Some users also pointed out that this may lead to problems for tenants ordering non-vegetarian food, particularly in the localities where it is frowned upon.
Mr Goyal had yesterday said they had decided to introduce the "pure veg" service on the basis of feedback from customers. "India has the largest percentage of vegetarians in the world, and one of the most important feedback we've gotten from them is that they are very particular about how their food is cooked, and how their food is handled," he had said. He had said that for this service, Zomato will rope in restaurants serving only vegetarian food and the delivery partners in this service will not handle any non-vegetarian packets.
"But why did we need to separate the fleets? Because despite everyone's best efforts, sometimes the food spills into the delivery boxes. In those cases, the smell of the previous order travels to the next order, and may lead to the next order smelling of the previous order. For this reason, we had to separate the fleet for veg orders," the Zomato CEO explained. He stressed that the "pure veg" service strictly serves a dietary preference, irrespective of a person's religion or caste. Mr Goyal had, however, said they will "roll back" the service "in a heartbeat" if there are negative social repercussions.
"We understand our social responsibility due to this change, and we will not back down from solving it when the need arises. Please note that this Pure Veg Mode, or the Pure Veg Fleet doesn't serve or alienate any religious, or political preference," he had said.