'Realised This Could Spell Trouble': After Backlash, Zomato Drops 'Green' Uniforms For Delivery Personnel

Zomato has dropped its plan for green uniforms for its 'Pure Veg' fleet on the ground.

Zomato won't be going 'green' anymore. The food delivery aggregator on Tuesday announced plans to roll out a 'Pure Veg' mode on its app, designed to cater to vegetarian customers. Alongside, Zomato announced that orders placed on the 'Pure Veg' section will be delivered by personnel wearing green-coloured uniforms. This announcement led to a huge uproar on social media, with disgruntled users taking to X (formerly Twitter) to express their concerns about the seemingly "thoughtless" consideration, as it would almost amount to an invasion of privacy, as people would get to know what everyone's ordering - Veg or Non-Veg. 

Responding to the furore, CEO Deepinder Goyal on Wednesday announced that while it will be going ahead with its 'Pure Veg' mode plans, it will be dropping the idea of green uniforms. "This means that the fleet meant for vegetarian orders will not be identifiable on the ground (but will show on the app that your veg orders will be served by the veg-only fleet)," Goyal tweeted.

What Was The Issue With Green Uniforms?

After the first announcement, social media users expressed concerns that getting their food delivered by a Zomato personnel wearing red would clearly flag the kind of food they are ordering, which might lead to issues with landlords or even resident welfare associations (RWAs) in certain cases, especially the ones which don't allow non-vegetarian residents. 

"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 riders’ physical safety is of paramount importance to us," Goyal tweeted. "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."

How People Are Reacting To The New Announcement

Since the rejigged plan was announced based on social media reactions, most users on X understandably responded positively.

However, there were a few who still expressed concerns over extra fees and also if the fleet would actually be 'Pure Veg' as promised and that their food wouldn't be put in a regular Zomato box which also carries non-vegetarian meals.