In response to a tweet by a customer from Jabalpur, in Central India that he was cancelling an order through Zomato, because they “allocated a non-Hindu rider”, the food aggregator said, “…food does not have a religion. Humans make their choice of what to cook and what to eat –whether or not you are a religious person".
The online campaign to boycott Zomato picked up steam after another food aggregator, Uber Eats, joined the issue and said, they “stand with Zomato”.
.@ZomatoIN, we stand by you. https://t.co/vzjF8RhYzi
— Uber Eats India (@UberEats_IND) July 31, 2019
Many questioned Zomato for what they termed a “discriminatory” practice by it, because they cater to the religious sensitivity of some other sects. The #boycottzomato campaign has already hit about 4,300 tweets.
What a Hypocrisy??
— Arvind Mishra🇮🇳🇮🇳💯%FB (@ArvindMishraIND) July 31, 2019
When Zomato sells food to Hindus : Food don't have a religion.
But when Zomato sells food to Muslims : Food has a religion,
If food don't have a religion why u write "Halal" in packet?
Why such a biasness , and this Uber cheats also support this hypocrisy.
Here food have religion !!#BoycottUberEats#boycottzomato pic.twitter.com/ntRHA2s8Ve
— EkDeshbhakt (@the_nationlist1) August 1, 2019
Here You go, Both Apps of @ZomatoIN and @UberEats_IND has been uninstalled from my cellphone.
— एक देशभक्त פטריוט (@GarvitDeshbhakt) August 1, 2019
"Now you guys buy and serve food to each other"#boycottzomato #BoycottUberEats pic.twitter.com/SqSWTvqs4Q
#BoycottUberEats #boycottzomato #IStandWithAmit U PPL r losing premium customers like me ,I used to give 10 orders per month but not from @Zomato and @UberEats_IND fro. Yesterday pic.twitter.com/7p0rWmYd8t
— CA Dhananjay Singh🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 (@CADhananjay1) August 1, 2019
Remember when a girl had cancelled @Uber because it had sticker of Hanuman. I didnt see @UberINSupport taking stand and claiming cabs have no religion. Is this secularism only available when customer is Hindu? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/Omu71KRBlf
— Shash (@pokershash) July 31, 2019
#boycottzomato #BoycottUberEats
— Kaushal Gaur (@Kaushal89214326) August 1, 2019
Boycott everyone who disrespects our religious beliefs.
Hit where it hurts.
Make them suffer. @ZomatoIN @UberEats_IND @UberEats
The debate expanded when national leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and a former parliamentarian Baijayant Jay Panda joined the issue saying, “Zomato is right to deny a customer’s request for a delivery person of a different religion. But wrong (and hypocritical) to claim it doesn’t mix religion with food".
Twitterati trolled the right-wing leader, criticising his partisan view, charging him with taking society back to the “untouchability era”.
@PandaJay When did you become like this? Is BJP affecting your judgement?
— Rahul Jain (@rahuljain_ksng) August 1, 2019
Food choices of people vegan/vegetarian /halal etc. are personal. I have vegetarian muslim friends.
What you want to eat is choice and who you want it from takes us back to the untouchability era.
I’ve been following you for years Mr. Panda. It is so sad to see you regress from a progressive, action-oriented politician to a right wing bigot. Food options, halal/jatka/jain/kosher are what the restaurants offer. Zomato is simply an aggregator. Please use some common sense.
— Neha Mathur (@Menenners) August 1, 2019
Panda was quick to come out with a clarification that he is clearly “against discrimination on the basis of religion".
Most took my tweet in the right spirit, but a few seem oddly ruffled.
— Baijayant Jay Panda (@PandaJay) August 1, 2019
I'm clearly *against* discrimination on basis of religion.
I have no grouse about an aggregator #Zomato linking suppliers/consumers of certain religious diets.
Not valid to ask if it's feasible to do for all🤔? https://t.co/Y3Vs4hDayQ
Founded in 2008, Zomato has grown to become one of India’s leading food delivery services within the span of a decade. It currently operates in 500 Indian cities, employing over 5,000 people providing information and reviews of restaurants, including images of menus on offer. It’s founder Deepender Goyal’s net worth is estimated to be around Rs. 1000 crores or $145.4 million.
The San Francisco-based online food ordering and delivery platform Uber Eats entered India in early 2017. It has now expanded its operations to 38 cities with a growth rate of 50%, month-on-month. The American ecommerce major, Amazon is in talks with the platform for a potential buyout or a strategic alliance to tap the huge market that India provides.
