A recent incident has gained attention on social media, where a man took to the internet to call out Zomato and its founder for charging significantly higher prices for the same order placed at a restaurant.
Here’s what happened
Pratyay Banerjee recently ordered mixed Cantonese gravy noodles and dry chili chicken from a local restaurant. To his surprise, the total bill when ordering directly from the restaurant amounted to ₹370.
However, when he placed the same order through the Zomato app, the total bill came to a staggering ₹563, making Zomato ₹193 more expensive than ordering directly from the restaurant.
Also, it was not just the total bill that was higher when ordering through Zomato, but the individual dishes were priced significantly higher on the app.
The restaurant listed the noodles for ₹190, while Zomato priced them at ₹300. Similarly, the chili chicken was priced at ₹180 in the restaurant but listed at ₹270 on Zomato.
Disappointed by the significant price difference, Banerjee took to social media to share a picture of his bill along with the Zomato order, calling out the company and its founder Deepinder Goyal in the caption.
He expressed his disbelief at the inflated prices and humorously remarked on how soon Goyal would be able to afford an airplane and a yacht with the extra charges his company was levying.
He posted: “Deepinder Goyal keep going the good work, I think very soon you will able to buy an airplane, a yacht also. hashtag#zomato."
The Internet community starts a debate
The incident sparked a debate among netizens regarding the pricing policies of food aggregator apps. While some argued that the convenience and additional services provided by these apps justified the higher prices, others felt that customers were being unnecessarily burdened with extra charges.