Zomato Faces Backlash Over “Severe” Food Quality Policy from Restaurants

Food delivery platform Zomato is in a pickle over a new policy that involves removing a restaurant's online orders from its platform if customers complain about the quality of their meals. After receiving a torrent of complaints from restaurants, the government has decided to postpone the implementation of this "severe food quality" policy until May 3.

If customers complain about a restaurant's food quality, the policy, which was set to take effect on April 18, might "temporarily prohibit" online orders. The complaints could range from serving outdated pre-packaged food to serving fungus or rotting food, as well as the presence of harmful foreign objects in meals such as animal/animal parts or sharp and inedible materials.

Restaurants have called the policy "unfair," accusing Zomato of overstepping its limits and interfering with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India's function of inspecting a restaurant's food hygiene (FSSAI). This statutory agency is already in charge of overseeing food safety and regulation in restaurants. However, in this battle between a meal aggregator and eateries, the FSSAI is supporting Zomato's new regulation since it aligns with its efforts to improve restaurant food quality and hygiene.

According to news sources, Zomato appears to have backed down on Friday (April 15), and in an email to restaurants, it requested suggestions to develop its new policy framework in the best interests of all stakeholders involved.

On a more positive note, Zomato stated that they would only disable a restaurant's online orders after talking with the restaurant's management. According to Zomato, the eatery will be removed off the platform only once appropriate remedial actions are taken and certified by an FSSAI-approved hygiene and safety auditor.

Meanwhile, Zomato is likely to meet with the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) to persuade them to change their new policy. According to the restaurants, the lack of a definition of "rotten food" creates a lot of room for abuse, and Zomato is responsible for deciding that from a photograph. Restaurants have also said that delisting is a harsh and draconian rule.

Restaurants that serve the wrong type of meat or serve non-vegetarian meals instead of vegetarian food will be temporarily pulled out by the app. Last month, Zomato was criticized for promising to be able to deliver food in 10 minutes.