Hyderabad: Zomato, a popular food delivery app, recently announced a new feature called Pure Veg Mode and Pure Veg Fleet, aimed at customers who prefer vegetarian food. However, Shaik Salauddin, the Founder-President of the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU), has raised concerns about how this might affect delivery workers.
Salauddin is worried that Zomato's decision could lead to discrimination against delivery workers based on their food preferences. He questions whether Zomato will only allow vegetarian delivery workers to handle orders from pure vegetarian restaurants, and if this filtering might extend to other factors like caste or religion.
Salauddin reminds Zomato of its commitment to diversity and inclusivity, urging the company to uphold these values even if it means losing some business. The TGPWU wants Zomato to ensure the safety and dignity of all delivery workers, regardless of their personal preferences.
More About Pure-Veg Fleet
The Pure Veg Fleet initiative means that users who choose this option will only see vegetarian restaurants and their orders will be handled by a special fleet of delivery workers with distinctive green delivery boxes. Zomato's CEO, Deepinder Goyal, explained that this separation is to prevent any mixing of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, which could affect the smell of future orders.
Making things clearer, and responding to the issue, Deepinder wrote, " 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....".
Update on our pure veg fleet —
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) March 20, 2024
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…
He wrote, "We are always listening, without unnecessary ego, or pride. We look forward to continue serving you," in the end.
All in all, while Zomato's Pure Veg Fleet initiative aims to cater to vegetarian customers, it has sparked important questions about fairness and inclusivity in its delivery system. Though Deepinder has handled it smoothly and well, the issue seems to be raising the eyebrows of many.
