Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal joined the elite club of billionaires in India after the company’s market capitalisation breached the $2 trillion mark. Zomato’s shares on Monday, July 15, hit an all-time high of Rs 232 a piece following a 4.2% surge on the National Stock Exchange. The shares opened trade at Rs 222, up from the previous close, before hitting the day’s high and driving the market capitalisation over the $2-trillion mark. 

Deepinder Goyal, an IIT Delhi graduate, co-founded Zomato in 2008 as Foodiebay, a restaurant directory, along with Pankaj Chaddah. The platform was renamed Zomato in 2010 following its initial success and went on to become a unicorn, attaining a market valuation of $1 billion in 2018-19. The same year, Pankaj Chaddah exited the company.

Mr Goyal’s realtime net worth is at $1.4 billion, up around $33 million this year, as per Forbes. With this, Mr Goyal, who owns 36.95 crore shares or a 4.24% stake in Zomato, has become India’s richest professional manager. The company went public in 2022, launching a much-talked-about initial public offer (IPO). Over the last year, Zomato shares have surged 82% since 2023 and 184%.

The rally in the shares of the food delivery aggregator is backed by a positive financial report in the last quarter of FY2024 and upbeat growth prospects for its quick commerce marketplace, Blinkit.

In May 2024, Zomato informed the exchanges that it expects Blinkit to turn profitable in March on an EBITDA basis. EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization.

Zomato has planned a rapid store expansion for its quick commerce business and is aiming for 1,000 stores by March 2025.

The company reported an overall net profit of Rs 175 crore in Q4-FY24 against Rs 138 crore in the year-ago period. The revenue went up to Rs 3,562 crore with an EBITDA of Rs 86 crore during the period.

Zomat had posted Rs 3,288 crore in revenue with an EBITDA of Rs 51 in the last quarter of FY23.

Revenue from Blinkit’s business swelled to Rs 769 crore in Q4-FY24  from Rs 644 crore in the year-ago period.

New Delhi:

Food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy have once again hiked platform fees to Rs 6 per order from an earlier Rs 5 – a 20 per cent increase.

Currently being charged in Delhi and Bengaluru, the platform fee is different from delivery fee, goods and services tax (GST), restaurant charges, and handling charges.

The higher platform fee will roll out to other cities as well.

The platform fee goes to the food aggregators to apparently control costs and increase revenues.

In April, Zomato hiked its platform fee by 25 per cent to Rs 5 per order.

Zomato introduced a platform fee of Rs 2 in August last year and later increased it to Rs 3 to improve its margins and become profitable.

The food delivery platforms aim to generate Rs 1.25-1.5 crore a day by levying a platform fee.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Paytm is in talks with Zomato to sell its movie and events ticketing business, according to people familiar with the matter, as the beleaguered fintech company carves a revival strategy amid weakening sales.

The discussions between Paytm, officially known as One97 Communications Ltd, and online food delivery firm Zomato are in advanced stages, though there are other suitors for the business, the people said, declining to be named as the matter is private. Talks are ongoing and no final decision has been made, the people said.

Paytm, run by billionaire founder-CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, last month reported its first sales decline on record and vowed to trim non-core assets. It also warned of job cuts, reflecting the fallout from regulatory action on Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. that’s curtailed much of the fintech’s business and forced it to forge new partnerships with lenders.

Paytm does not control the bank but relied on it for digital wallets and payments traffic before the central bank’s move earlier this year.

Paytm and Zomato did not respond to requests for comment outside of regular business hours.

Paytm does not disclose standalone numbers for its movie and events ticketing business. It reported annual sales of 17.4 billion rupees ($208 million) in the fiscal year through March 2024 in its marketing services business, which includes movie and events as well as credit card marketing and gift vouchers.

The sale, if successful, will allow Paytm to sharpen its focus on travel, deals, and cash backs – businesses that are important to broaden its merchant base and grow its own sales.

The purchase could help Zomato expand its digital business into a new high-growth area. In 2020, it acquired Uber Technologies Inc.’s India food unit.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Zomato Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal today praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing ample opportunities to small-town entrepreneurs like him, as the online food delivery platform, coupled with quick commerce delivery platform Blinkit, scaled new highs in the last couple of years.

In a post on X, Deepinder Goyal thanked PM Modi for his kind words. “This does certainly motivate us to work harder and do better,” the Zomato CEO posted.

Thank you for your kind words, sir. This does certainly motivate us to work harder, and do better. https://t.co/L9mQhMzymC

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) May 22, 2024

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister said that Mr Goyal’s journey is truly inspiring which motivates “countless youngsters to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams”.

In today’s India, one’s surname doesn’t matter. What matters is hardwork. Your journey is truly inspiring, @deepigoyal! It motivates countless youngsters to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. We are committed to providing the right environment for the startups to flourish. https://t.co/E9ccqYyVzv

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2024

Mr Goyal attended ‘Vishesh Sampark Abhiyan’ event in the national capital in presence of Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Rajeev Chandrashekhar, along with fellow startup founders.

A small-town boy from Punjab, Deepinder Goyal also faced questions about his ability to succeed in the startup ecosystem.

“When I told my father about starting Zomato, he said, ‘Janta hai tera baap kaun hai?’ which basically meant ‘You can’t do a startup’,” Mr Goyal had recalled.

Today, Zomato has a market capitalisation of about $20 billion, with Blinkit contributing $13 billion to Zomato’s value.

In the January-March quarter of FY24, Zomato registered a profit of Rs 175 crore — from a loss of Rs 188 crore in the same period last year.

Zomato aims to reach 1,000 Blinkit stores by the end of FY25.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Online food delivery platform Zomato said it has received a service tax demand and penalty order aggregating over Rs 184 crore, and will file an appeal against it before an appropriate authority.

The demand order has been received for non-payment of service tax for the period October 2014 to June 2017 determined on the basis of certain sales made by the foreign subsidiaries and branches of the company to its customers located outside India, the company said in a late night regulatory filing.

The company also mentioned that in its response to the show cause notice it had clarified on the allegations along with supporting documents and judicial precedents, “which appears to not have been appreciated by the authorities while passing the order.” Subsequently, the company said it received the order passed by the Delhi Central Tax Commissioner (Adjudication) on April 1.

“The company has received an order for the period October 2014 to June 2017 passed by the Commissioner, Adjudication, Central Tax, Delhi raising demand of service tax of Rs 92,09,90,306, along with applicable interest (not quantified) and penalty of Rs 92,09,90,306,” Zomato said.

The company said it will be filing an appeal against the order before an appropriate authority as it believes it has a “strong case on merits”.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The usage of food delivery applications has increased significantly in recent times. As our lives have become fast-paced, it serves as a convenient option and helps save time. However, there has also been a growing issue regarding the quality of the food received. In the past, there have been several cases of people complaining about finding insects in dishes ordered from restaurants. Now, another such incident has come to light and has sparked concern about the food service industry. Taking to X on Saturday, a user complained about excess oil she found in her order which caused her and her friends to have stomach ache and bloating.

Nikita Toshniwal took to X and wrote, “Guys seriously think before ordering food from online delivery partners and cloud kitchen. It is not at all safe these day. And Zomato is really not concerned with anything. This event encountered us when me and some friends ordered food from Zomato on Friday.”

In another post, she said that the food was “so bad” and “unhealthy”. It had “a thick layer of oil on the top” which made all of them sick. She added, “My friend wrote a mail to zomato. They havent reverted back nor their support system is good. @zomato is least bothered now a days.” Ms Toshniwal also shared pictures of the food order and a screenshot of the mail sent to the food delivery company. 

The food was sooo bad,
There was a thick layer of oil on the top!
It was soo unhealthy
We all had stomach pain and bloated stomach

My friend wrote a mail to zomato

They havent reverted back nor their support system is good@zomato is least bothered now a days pic.twitter.com/EgZDGmDNuv

— CA Nikita Toshniwal (@nikitoshniwal) March 31, 2024

Zomato took note of the same and said that they would investigate the matter. “Can’t begin to express how disappointed we are that you had to go through all this trouble, Nikita. We’re here to rescue. Please allow us some time to investigate the matter and we will get back to you shortly.”

Since being shared, her post has amassed several reactions from social media users.

“When I get such food, i simply throw it, may seem as food wastage but when it’s a matter of health can’t compromise. I chat with zomato, most of the time they refund. I then blacklist that restaurant and never order from there. Simple Give zomato terms & conditions a read,” said a user.

“Next time order from a better place may be? Leaving a bad rating for the restaurant and moving on might be your best bet. Oily food is very common in India, I don’t think Zomato has much role to play here. It’s not like Pav Bhaji is ‘healthy’ food to begin with,” said a person.

“They will refund you the money, that’s the best they can do. Need to be very careful where you are ordering from, given the Cake incident happened in Patiala,” commented a person.

Another wrote, “Lucky you only got oily food. Zomato once sent me non-veg food (I’m vegetarian and it was an all veg order) and their response was more than ridiculous and tone deaf.”

A person said, “Ordered stew from Zomato, went to flush it down right after eating 25%.”

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.

Update on our pure veg fleet —

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…

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) March 20, 2024

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.

New Delhi:

After facing a backlash online from a section of people over the launch of the “Pure Veg Mode” service, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal on Tuesday said the food delivery platform will “roll it back in a heartbeat” in case there is a negative social repercussions.

In a long late night post on X, Mr Goyal also sought to allay concerns that Zomato’s regular fleet may be barred by some societies and RWAs.

“There’s an opinion that some societies and RWAs will now not let our regular fleet in. We will stay alert for any such cases and work with these RWAs to not let this happen.

“We understand our social responsibility due to this change, and we will not back down from solving it when the need arises,” he said.

“Please note that this Pure Veg Mode, or the Pure Veg Fleet doesn’t serve or alienate any religious, or political preference,” he clarified.

Mr Goyal elaborated upon the reason behind introduction of the company’s “Pure Veg Mode” service.

“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 said.

He emphasised that the new service strictly serves a dietary preference irrespective of a person’s religion or caste and delivery partners’ participation in the new fleet will not be decided on their dietary preferences.

“I would like to repeat that this feature strictly serves a dietary preference. And I know there are a lot of customers who would never order food from a restaurant which serves meat, irrespective of their religion/caste,” Mr Goyal said.

He concluded the post by promising that Zomato will roll back the Pure Veg Mode service in the event of significant negative social repercussions.

“And I promise, that if we see any significant negative social repercussions of this change, we will roll it back in a heartbeat,” Mr Goyal said.

I have received an overwhelmingly positive response on this launch from so many people. A lot of comments from young people who eat non-veg food saying “now my parents can also use zomato”.

I would like to repeat that this feature strictly serves a dietary preference. And I know…

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) March 19, 2024

The Zomato co-founder announced the launch of a “Pure Veg Mode” service on Tuesday to cater to customers who have a pure vegetarian dietary preference.

Mr Goyal cited feedback from vegetarian customers as the reason behind the launch and said that the online food delivery platform is also introducing a “Pure Veg Fleet” in India for customers who follow a 100 per cent vegetarian diet.

“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,” Mr Goyal said in a series of posts on X.

“To solve for (sic) their dietary preferences, we are today, launching a ‘Pure Veg Mode’ along with a ‘Pure Veg Fleet’ on Zomato, for customers who have a 100% vegetarian dietary preference,” he said.

He said that for the ‘Pure Veg Mode’ the company will rope in select restaurants serving exclusively vegetarian food, and exclude any establishments offering non-vegetarian items.

The Pure Veg Fleet will use green delivery boxes instead of the standard red ones, he said.

Mr Goyal said that these delivery persons will exclusively deliver orders from pure vegetarian restaurants and won’t handle any non-vegetarian meals.

Additionally, they won’t enter non-vegetarian restaurants while carrying the green delivery box.

“Our dedicated Pure Veg Fleet will only serve orders from these pure veg restaurants. This means that a non-veg meal, or even a veg meal served by a non-veg restaurant will never go inside the green delivery box meant for our Pure Veg Fleet,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Food-delivery platform Zomato has launched a “Pure Veg Mode” for customers who have a 100 per cent vegetarian dietary preference. The “pure” vegetarian food would be delivered by the newly-launched “Pure Veg Fleet”. The new fleet would sport a green uniform and delivery box in contrast to Zomato’s trademark red t-shirts and bags. “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,” Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal posted on X. The “Pure Veg Mode” has been launched, Mr Goyal said, “to solve their dietary preferences”.

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.

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) March 19, 2024

Mr Goyal was even seen stepping out “to deliver some pure veg orders” in a photo he shared on X.

On that note, just stepping out to deliver some pure veg orders with @rrakesh_15 with our newly launched Pure Veg Fleet. See ya! pic.twitter.com/Q4HdhyDMFN

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) March 19, 2024

The latest mode will consist of restaurants that serve only vegetarian food and will be rolled out in a phased manner across the country in the next few weeks. “This means that a non-veg meal, or even a veg meal served by a non-veg restaurant will never go inside the green delivery box meant for our Pure Veg Fleet,” he said.

The announcement has drawn mixed reactions on social media. Several praised the new marketing technique – “No One Understands Marketing and PR Better Than Zomato,” wrote one user – while several criticised the move as discriminatory – “This is deeply disturbing because now many housing societies will just ban the entry of red-shirted Zomato delivery persons,” wrote another.

Some even claimed they deleted the app from their phone over the “casteist and criminal” move.

Deepinder Goyal, however, insisted that the new move “doesn’t serve or alienate any religious, or political preference”.

Zomato is also planning to add more specialised fleets for special customer needs in the future. “For example, there’s a special cake delivery fleet coming up with hydraulic balancers which prevent your cake from getting smudged during delivery.” Mr Goyal said.

The G20 Leaders’ Summit is scheduled to be held from September 9-10 at the newly built international convention and exhibition centre, Bharat Mandapam at Pragati Maidan. Since the G20 is a high-profile meeting, several restrictions are imposed in the New Delhi district including the suspension of all online delivery and commercial services during that time.

All cloud kitchens, commercial establishments, markets, food delivery, and commercial delivery services will be shut for three days in the New Delhi district, PTI reported.

“We can’t allow cloud kitchen and food delivery services. Internet delivery companies such as Amazon and Flipkart will also not be allowed to operate in the controlled zone. Delivery executives can take medicines and essential items,” Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) SS Yadav said on September 4 during a press conference.

“Cloud kitchens and food deliveries, or any commercial deliveries like Amazon deliveries, will not be allowed as we have stopped commercial services in the NDMC area,” Special Commissioner of Police SS Yadav added.

However, the delivery of essential medical items, including lab reports and sample collections, will be permitted throughout the city. Vehicles for hotels, hospitals, and other significant installations in the New Delhi District that are involved in housekeeping, catering, trash disposal, etc. will be permitted following verification.

”Essential services such as postal and medical services, sample collections by path labs will be allowed throughout Delhi,” Mr Yadav added.

The senior officer also added that barring the Supreme Court station, metro services will not be affected.

”There might be closure of gates for 10-15 minutes at stations due to VIP movement and security restrictions. But apart from at Pragati Maidan (Supreme Court), metro services will not be affected at other stations,” he added.

Meanwhile, all Central government offices in the national capital will be closed from September 8 to 10 considering the G20 summit.