India: Man cancels order over 'Non-Hindu Rider', Zomato’s response wins the internet
The company refused to change the rider on the basis of his religion
Zomato India just won the internet after they shut down a customer for bigotry. The food delivery app company refused on Wednesday to resolve a customer’s complaint about being assigned a Muslim delivery executive for his food order.
What happened
On Tuesday Amit Shukla, a resident of Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh posted the controversial tweet: “Just cancelled an order on @ZomatoIN. They allocated a non-hindu rider for my food they said they can’t change rider and can’t refund on cancellation. I said you can’t force me to take a delivery. I don’t want don’t refund just cancel.”
Shukla, with the Twitter handle @NaMo_SARKAAR had cancelled his order after a delivery executive called Faiyaz was assigned to deliver his food.
He shared a screenshot of the app’s chat support, through which he requested for a different delivery executive. When asked for a reason for the change, Shukla replied: “We have Shravan and I don’t need a delivery from a Muslim fellow.”
In the Hindu calendar the Shravan month is dedicated to the deity Shiva. The month is considered auspicious for fasting.
Zomato replies
The company refused to change the rider on the basis of his religion.
The customer care executive responded that cancelling the order would cost him additional charges, and then said: “At Zomato, we don’t discriminate on basis of riders, I hope you understand.”
Shukla further said he would take up the issue with his lawyers.
Zomato tweeted responding: “Food doesn’t have a religion. It is a religion.”
Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal further stressed on his company’s stand with a tweet: “We are proud of the idea of India - and the diversity of our esteemed customers and partners. We aren’t sorry to lose any business that comes in the way of our values.”
Social media reacts
Zomato response won many hearts. Meanwhile Shukla’s tweets received angry responses from several users with one asking Shukla if he had ensured that the person who cooked his food was a Hindu too.
Tweep @arunthechozen1 replied: “If you have shravan and are so particular, you should be cooking yourself and not ordering it. Unnecessary drama. Grow up.”
However, some tweeps said Shukla should have been allowed a different rider.
@vinod1979do posted: “He is not discriminating, he is paying for food and he has his own rights... because of Shravan month he wants the delivery guy changed.”
Many applauded Zomato and its founder.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted: “Salute Deepinder Goyal! You are the real face of India! Proud of you.”
According to news agency PTI (Press Trust of India), Goyal had in an internal message to his team at Zomato applauded the customer team for “upholding our values and not discriminate on basis of caste or religion for sake of growth (or customer satisfaction)”.
Sources said he told his team that they should not succumb to any demands of a customer, partner, or even an employee on racial grounds or grounds of any form of diversity.