Zomato has introduced Nugget, an AI-powered customer support platform, to help businesses automate and manage customer interactions without coding. The announcement was made by Deepinder Goyal, CEO of Eternal (Zomato’s parent company), through an X post on Monday. “More exciting launches coming soon,” he added.

???? Introducing Nugget—an AI-native, no-code customer support platform.

Nugget helps businesses scale support effortlessly—highly customizable, low-cost, no dev team needed. No rigid workflows, just seamless automation.

Resolves up to 80% of queries autonomously
Learns &… pic.twitter.com/pnVrUEhmcd

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) February 17, 2025

What is Nugget?

Nugget is an AI-powered, autonomous customer support solution that does not require coding or a development team. Designed to resolve up to 80 per cent of queries autonomously while reducing resolution time by 20 per cent, the platform has been in development for the past three years as an internal tool, said Mr Goyal.

Currently, Nugget handles over 15 million support interactions per month for Zomato, Blinkit, and Hyperpure. Following its success within Zomato’s ecosystem, the platform is now being opened to businesses worldwide. Mr Goyal said that 90 per cent of companies that tested Nugget opted to sign up.

Zomato Labs’ First Product

Nugget is the first innovation from Zomato Labs, an incubator focused on in-house technological advancements. The AI tool is designed to learn and adapt in real-time, making it suitable for various industries beyond food tech.

Key capabilities of Nugget

• Intelligent conversations for seamless customer interactions.
• AI-powered image classification to enhance issue resolution speed.
• Automated quality audits for improved efficiency.
• Voice AI agents and agent co-pilot features to assist human agents.
• Fluid integrations with existing support systems.

Zomato is positioning Nugget as a cost-effective alternative to legacy customer support providers. In an effort to attract businesses, Zomato is offering the platform for free to founders stuck in contracts with legacy providers.

While financial details remain undisclosed, Mr Goyal said that Nugget is designed to be a low-cost, scalable solution with 99.99 per cent uptime. Businesses interested in using the platform can sign up via nugget.zomato.com.

The logo of Indian food delivery company Zomato with its new logo of ‘Eternal’.

Food and delivery platform Zomato said on Thursday (February 6, 2025) it will rename the company to “Eternal” and unveiled a new logo, a move that comes more than two years after it began using the new name internally. 

In a letter to shareholder, founder Deepinder Goyal said, “When we acquired Blinkit, we started using “Eternal” [instead of Zomato] internally to distinguish between the company and the brand/app. We also thought that we would publicly rename the company to Eternal, the day something beyond Zomato became a signicant driver of our future.”

“Today, with Blinkit, I feel we are there. We would like to rename Zomato Ltd., the company [not the brand/app], to Eternal Ltd,” he added.

Eternal would comprise its four major businesses — food delivery vertical Zomato, quick-commerce unit Blinkit, live events business District and kitchen supplies unit Hyperpure

Mr. Goyal further informed that the company’s board has already approved of the change.

The move marks a shift for the company, from when investors were skeptical about Zomato’s acquisition of Blinkit in mid-2022, to quick commerce-led growth drawing increasing investor interest.

(With inputs from Reuters)

A Delhi man was “deeply shaken” after listening to a young Zomato delivery executive who delivered food to his doorstep late one night. Himanshu Bohra shared the story of Shiva Sarkar, a delivery executive barely in his twenties, who works tirelessly through the night to support his family after his father’s death.

In his LinkedIn post titled “The Story of Shiva Sarkar,” Mr Bohra said that one night, after wrapping up his work at 3 AM, he ordered food through Zomato.

“As the doorbell rang, I stood up to open it. There he was, Shiva Sarkar, the delivery executive, with a warm smile despite the biting cold outside. But there was something in his eyes. A heaviness, a story untold,” he wrote.

Mr Bohra invited the Zomato agent in, offering him water and inquiring about his well-being. That’s when the young man broke down and revealed his struggles. After losing his father, Mr Sarkar was forced to drop out of school in class 8 and take up a job to support his family. His earnings now go toward preparing for his younger sisters’ weddings.

“I sat there, in awe of his strength,” Mr Bohra said. “This young man, who should be chasing his aspirations, is instead running against the clock to make ends meet, with a determination that can only be admired.”

Mr Bohra reflected on countless others like Sarkar — “young boys and girls sacrificing their education, dreams, and potential to keep their families afloat.” After meeting Mr Sarkar, he wondered how society could help individuals like him.

The post continued with an emotional plea to Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal: “Deepinder Goyal, I love the Zomato app, but can we do more?” He asked if Zomato could introduce upskilling programmes, scholarships, or easy loans for these “unsung heroes.” 

“What if these delivery executives could dream again? Could learn skills that open doors to brighter futures while earning a living?” he wrote.

The post, which included a photo of Mr Sarkar (shared with his consent), has since gone viral.

Zomato was quick to respond.

In a comment, the company wrote, “Thanks for bringing this to our attention. This looks quite inspirational, and we are proud of our delivery universe,” asking for the order ID of the delivery partner to express their appreciation for his dedication and hard work.

Facing criticism over the presence of suspicious ‘one-dish’ restaurants on its platform, India’s food delivery giant, Zomato, has issued a response. The company said it had ‘delisted’ some of the fraudulent restaurants on its app that may have gamed the system to push ‘prohibited items’. The emergence of shady listings on Zomato had led to social media users floating several conspiracy theories, with some believing that the restaurants were a front for drug trade while others claimed that Zomato was facilitating ‘money laundering’ business.

“We have identified all such restaurants that were potentially fraudulent and have delisted them from our platform. To solve this more comprehensively, we have also investigated all other restaurants which have a very limited menu on Zomato and might have listed prohibited items or worked around a way to list prohibited items,” a Zomato spokesperson said.

“As per our policy, all restaurants listed on Zomato need to have a FSSAI license and we also actively block items such as alcohol, cigarettes/cigars/vapes from being listed on our platform,” they added.

The restaurant aggregator admitted that the said restaurants were able to game Zomato’s “checks by using generic food names such as, ‘Naughty strawberry’ and ‘Merry Berry'”.

“We have further strengthened our fraud checks to proactively identify such cases to avoid similar incidents in the future,” the company said.

What was the controversy?

Last week, social media users pointed out that such shady restaurants had come up in the northern Indian union territory of Chandigarh — offering a single dish at ‘absurdly high prices’. Some of the suspicious restaurants had no reviews while others had been bombarded with negative reviews — possibly to shield the operation from customers simply looking to order food.

“Came across some odd listings on Zomato in Chandigarh – so-called ‘restaurants’ that only offer a single dish, priced absurdly high. It’s got me wondering: could these be fronts for money laundering or some other shady business?” read the post by a Redditor.

Also Read | Bizarre “One-Dish” Restaurants Appear On Zomato, Netizens Float Conspiracy Theories

As the post went viral, the users came up with their theories about what could have led to the emergence of such facilities.

“Those look like flavours of juice that you put into your vapes. Pricing also looks consistent,” said one user, while another added: “True. I know of an exact such operation in another city, that essentially sells vape pens/cartridges. The price is almost the same, Rs 1000- Rs 1200 per item.”

One user pointed out that all the restaurants were in the same location ‘Nayagaon’, adding to the mystery.

New Delhi:

Facing a CCI probe for anti-competitive practices, online food delivery platform Zomato has asserted it complies with the country’s laws while rival Swiggy said it is committed to complying with local regulations.

Both companies termed news reports on the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) investigation “misleading”, maintaining that the CCI is yet to pass its final order on the matter of unfair business practices, including alleged preferential treatment to some restaurant partners by Zomato and Swiggy.

In a regulatory filing, Zomato said the CCI had issued a “prima facie” order on April 4, 2022, which directed the Office of the Director General of the Commission to investigate potential violations under the Competition Act, 2002.

Since the intimation of April 5, 2022, the commission, on merits, has not passed any order, the company said.

“Accordingly, the aforementioned news article is misleading. We will continue to work closely with the Commission to explain why all our practices are in compliance with the Competition Act and that they do not have any adverse effect on competition in India,” Zomato stated in the filing.

In a statement, Swiggy said media reports of the CCI’s investigation into Swiggy confuse the investigative process with the final outcome and are misleading.

“Based on the order of the CCI dated April 5, 2022, the Director General investigated certain aspects of the conduct of our business and its inquiry and report of March 2024 is a preliminary step in an ongoing investigation by the CCI, and not a final decision as some reports suggest,” Swiggy said.

The company further stated it is yet to receive the confidential details of the findings from the CCI for filing a response to the DG’s finding.

“Once Swiggy submits its response and CCI conducts a hearing on the matter, CCI will pass its decision on whether any competition law violations have occurred. Currently it’s at a preliminary stage and no final decision or order has been issued regarding Swiggy’s practices since 2022,” the company said.

Swiggy maintained that it is “fully cooperating with the investigation and is committed to complying with the extant laws of the country”.

However, a CCI probe has found that the two food delivery platforms indulged in unfair business practices, including alleged preferential treatment to some restaurant partners, according to sources.

The detailed investigation was ordered by the CCI in April 2022 and the probe report was submitted to the regulator earlier this year. Under the norms, CCI Director General’s report has been shared with the parties concerned and later, they will be called for hearings by the watchdog.

After gathering all the views and explanations, the regulator will pass the final order. The decision to probe the two entities had come on a complaint filed by the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI).

Last month, Swiggy mentioned about the CCI case in the Red Herring Prospectus for its Initial Public Offering. The IPO closed on Friday. While ordering the investigation in April 2022, CCI had said that “prima facie there exists a conflict of interest situation, warranting a detailed scrutiny into its impact on the overall competition between the RPs vis-a-vis the private brands/entities which the platforms may be incentivised to favour”.

As per the April 2022 order, preferential treatment accorded to the Restaurant Partners (RPs) in which these platforms have an equity or revenue interest can create barriers for the existing RPs to compete on fair terms.

Among others, the watchdog had said that price parity clauses mentioned in the agreements of Zomato and Swiggy appear to indicate wide restrictions where the RPs are not allowed to maintain lower prices or higher discounts on any of their own supply channel or on any other aggregator, so that the minimum price or maximum discounts can be maintained by the platform. 

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

New Delhi:

An investigation by India’s antitrust body found food delivery giants Zomato and SoftBank-backed Swiggy breached competition laws, with their business practices favouring restaurant chains listed on their platforms, documents show.

Zomato entered into “exclusivity contracts” with partners in return for lower commissions, while Swiggy guaranteed business growth to certain players if they listed exclusively on its platform, according to non-public documents prepared by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

Exclusivity arrangements between Swiggy, Zomato and their respective restaurant partners “prevent the market from becoming more competitive,” the CCI’s investigation arm noted in its findings reviewed by Reuters on Friday.

The CCI documents are not public, in line with its confidentiality rules, and were shared with Swiggy, Zomato and the complainant restaurant groups in March 2024. Their findings have not been previously reported.

Zomato declined to comment, while Swiggy and the CCI did not respond to Reuters queries.

The antitrust investigation against Swiggy and its top rival Zomato began in 2022 after a complaint by National Restaurant Association of India about the impact on food outlets due to anti-competitive practices of the platforms.

Food delivery giants Swiggy and Zomato have in recent years reshaped how Indians order food, as hundreds of thousands of outlets listed on their apps just when smartphone use, and online ordering, both grew rapidly.

Swiggy, which on Friday is closing bids for its $1.4 billion IPO – India’s second biggest this year, and Zomato both in recent years also pushed restaurants to maintain a parity on prices, directly reducing competition in the market.

That practice affects restaurants as they cannot offer lower prices on other online platforms, the CCI documents stated.

The next, and final phase, of the CCI case is a decision by the CCI leadership which is still reviewing the investigation findings to decide on any penalty or order changes to Swiggy’s and Zomato’s business practices.

A final decision could take several weeks, and the companies still have the option of contesting the investigation findings with the CCI.

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

New Delhi:

Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal on Sunday alleged that a mall in Gurugram stopped him from using the lift while he was picking up a food order as a delivery executive.

Mr Goyal, who along with his wife Grecia Munoz took on the role of delivery partner to get a first-hand experience of their challenges, said he was told to take the stairs when he went to the Ambience Mall to collect an order. 

“During my second order, I realised that we need to work with malls more closely to improve working conditions for all delivery partners. And malls also need to be more humane to delivery partners,” he posted on X and tagged a video elaborating upon his experience in a Zomato delivery agent uniform.

“We reached Ambience Mall in Gurugram to pick up the order from Haldiram’s. I was told to take the other entrance, and realised they were asking me to take the stairs. Went in again on the main entrance to make sure there aren’t any elevators for delivery partners,” he said.

During my second order, I realised that we need to work with malls more closely to improve working conditions for all delivery partners. And malls also need to be more humane to delivery partners.

What do you think? pic.twitter.com/vgccgyH8oE

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) October 6, 2024

Mr Goyal claimed he took the stairs to the third floor to realise that delivery partners cannot enter the mall and have to wait at the stairs to receive orders.

“Chilled with my fellow delivery partners while also getting valuable feedback from them,” the Zomato boss said, adding that he was finally able to sneak in to collect the order when the staircase guard “took a small break”.

Reacting to his post, many users said that not just malls but various societies also don’t allow delivery partners to take the main lift.

“Every society, every mall and every office should make it mandatory for delivery partners to use normal regular lifts and entrances/exits. There shouldn’t be any divide,” a user said.

Last week, Mr Goyal shared a post in which he was seen riding on the streets of Gurugram while delivering orders. 

“Loving delivering food to our customers, and enjoying the ride,” he wrote and posted pictures with Ms Munoz, who recently changed her name to Gia Goyal.

Deepinder Goyal, the co-founder and CEO of Zomato, swapped his executive chair for a delivery bike for a day. He stepped into the role of a delivery agent to gain a deeper insight into how Zomato operated. Goyal, in a Zomato uniform, was joined by his wife, Grecia Munoz, who recently changed her name to Gia Goyal.

Sharing this experience on Instagram, Mr Goyal wrote, “Went out to deliver orders a couple of days ago, teaming up with Grecia Munoz.” The accompanying photos depict various moments from their day out as delivery agents, including the couple riding together, looking at their mobile phones, presumably to find delivery locations, and interacting with customers along the way.

Here’s the post:

Mr Goyal also shared a short reel in which he was seen riding on the streets of Gurugram. “Loving delivering food to our customers, and enjoying the ride,” read the caption.

While the post featuring the photos garnered over 28,000 likes, the reel received nearly 12,000 likes. While many expressed admiration for Goyal and his wife’s hands-on approach, others offered criticism.

One user stated, “Down-to-earth.”

Another user light-heartedly suggested, “Bro deliver to Old Gurugram area too rather than Cyber city areas,” hinting that while areas like Cyber City may be bustling and high-profile, the Old Gurugram area also deserved attention.

“Peak founder mode!” read a comment.

Expressing scepticism about Goyal’s action, one user wrote, “Not sure about this. But you definitely love the whooping platform fee you charge from your loving customers. Nice PR stunt.”

Another user, too, criticised the initiative as a “PR stunt,” suggesting that if Goyal truly wanted to understand the challenges faced by delivery executives, he would spend an entire month doing their job. The user wrote, “Just a PR stunt, try doing it for the entire month; you will understand the pain of dust and traffic your delivery executives face.”

Deepinder Goyal co-founded Zomato in 2008, and over the years the company has become a major player in the food delivery industry. Zomato’s IPO in 2021 generated a lot of interest, being oversubscribed 35 times, and it debuted with a valuation of $12 billion.

According to Forbes, as of October 5, 2024, Goyal’s net worth stands at $1.7 billion.

New Delhi:

Online food ordering and delivery platform Zomato on Friday said its co-founder and Chief People Officer Akriti Chopra has resigned to pursue other interests.

Designated as senior management personnel, Akriti Chopra has tendered her resignation, with effect from September 27, 2024, Zomato said in a regulatory filing.

She has been with the company for 13 years and played a key role in setting up and scaling Zomato’s legal and finance teams in her previous role as CFO.

Before joining Zomato, she worked with PwC for three years in the tax and regulatory practice.

In January last year, another Zomato co-founder and its then chief technology officer Gunjan Patidar resigned after over a decade stint in the company. Before that in November 2022, another co-founder Mohit Gupta had resigned. Gupta was elevated to co-founder level in 2020 from the position of CEO of its food delivery business.

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

Zomato has officially shut down its ‘Legends’ service, which was designed to deliver food items even from a city far away. For example, dhoklas from Gujarat were available to customers in Delhi. Despite Zomato’s efforts, the lack of “product-market fit” led to the decision to terminate the service.

Zomato Legends was temporarily suspended in April 2024, and it restarted as “Intercity Legends” in July 2024. Zomato even increased the minimum order value to Rs. 5,000 to reach a profitable margin but could not make the service sustainable.

In an announcement on X, Deepinder Goyal, CEO of Zomato, said, “Update on Zomato Legends—after two years of trying, not finding product market fit, we have decided to shut down the service with immediate effect.”

Update on Zomato Legends – after two years of trying, not finding product market fit, we have decided to shut down the service with immediate effect.

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) August 22, 2024

Mr Goyal’s followers on X flooded the comment section, saying the marketing of Zomato Legends failed, leaving the platform with no other option but to take such a drastic step.

“I am hearing about Zomato Legends for the first time today through this post… lol. It shows how bad the marketing and service were,” read a comment.

I am hearing about Zomato Legends for the first time today through this post..lol

It shows how bad was the marketing & service was

— Veena Jain (@DrJain21) August 22, 2024

“I guess it was not marketed well. Not many people know about Zomato Legends,” read another. 

I guess it was not marketed well. Not many people know about Zomato Legends.

— Manas Muduli???????? (@manas_muduli) August 22, 2024

“What was the biggest challenge scaling it?” asked a person.

What was the biggest challenge scaling it?

— Sejal Sud (@SejalSud) August 22, 2024

Meanwhile, Vibhor Varshney, a SEBI Registered Research Analyst, explained, “There are many reasons. 1—services were never marketed. 2—who likes stale food like hours-old chole bhature? 3—it was too costly.”

there are many reasons

1 – services was never marketed .

2 – who likes stale food like hours old chole bhature ?

3 – too too costly .

— Vibhor Varshney (@nakulvibhor) August 22, 2024

Besides Zomato Legends, the ‘Zomato Xtreme’ hyperlocal goods delivery service, launched a year ago, was shut down in July 2024 due to poor demand. With this service, the food delivery platform wanted to compete with Shadowfax, Porter, and Loadshare in providing intracity package deliveries across nearly all of the 750-800 Indian cities but failed to create a space in the existing market scenario.