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The delivery agent said when he reached the location to deliver the food, no one was there to receive it.
The delivery agent was seen eating a customer’s food in a parking lot. (Photo Credits: LinkedIn)
A small interaction in Noida on Holi has shed light on the struggles of delivery workers and how they manage to get by. Delhi-based social activist Kiran Verma came across a Zomato delivery agent eating on his bike and assumed the food belonged to a customer. But a conversation with the rider, whom he called “Vishal” (name changed), made him realise there was more to the situation.
Verma later shared the encounter on LinkedIn, calling it both “unethical” and “sweet” act by Zomato. He shared that while looking for a place to park his car, he noticed a Zomato delivery agent eating on his bike.
Since that was the only space available, he decided to wait. As he watched, he assumed the rider was eating a customer’s food. “That’s when I clicked the first picture, and I thought he would be another delivery guy eating someone’s food.”
After a while, Verma walked up to him and asked how long he would take so he could park accordingly. The rider, who introduced himself as Vishal (name changed), quickly started eating and said, “Just a few minutes, sir.”
“He said that in Hindi but he was sounding like educated guy. I asked his name and he told me “Vishal” (name changed). Out of curiosity, I asked why are you eating so late (it was around 5 pm)?” Verma added.
Vishal told him that he had picked up the order around 2 PM but when he reached the location, no one was there to receive it.
“Zomato people asked him to mark it as delivered,” Verma wrote.
He explained that even though the food wasn’t delivered, the company uses this system to pay the delivery partner while avoiding further delivery attempts.
“It may sound unethical or wrong, but it is good practice, because that’s how delivery partners save little money on their food and wastage can be controlled,” he continued.
Looking back, Verma realised he had judged Vishal too quickly.
“I request you all not to judge someone like I did for Vishal, when they are having such food (I am still feeling guilty as I also judged him at first),” he wrote.
He ended his post by thanking Zomato founder, Deepinder Goyal, “for building hope in such an impactful way.”
“Hope you all are close to your families celebrating the festival and not like millions of gig workers, who are supporting us to create those moments into memories,” he added.
The post gained significant attention online and drew varied reactions from social media users.
One user wrote, “This was really heartwarming,” while another shared, “Very heart touching story.”
Someone commented, “In my opinion there’s absolutely nothing unethical about allowing delivery personnel to consume official attempted but non-accepted deliveries.”
- Location :
Delhi, India, India
