"It was a mistake. We killed it. It won’t happen again," says Zepto’s Aadit Palicha about the dark pattern test

Zepto co-founder and CEO Aadit Palicha says the company has moved past recent controversies, including hygiene allegations at a Maharashtra dark store and criticism around “dark patterns” in delivery fee experiments. 

While the former, he insists, was “a false alarm”, the latter was a real misstep, one he says the company has now decisively corrected.

Addressing the hygiene controversy first, Aadit Palicha says the viral image of a supposedly expired product being sold was misleading. The item belonged to a non-sellable section of the store, he explains, and multiple audits later confirmed compliance.

“That incident was more of a media thing,”he says. 

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“We killed it”: Aadit Palicha on Dark Patterns

The criticism around pricing and delivery fee experiments, however, was different and Aadit Palicha acknowledges the backlash citing says Zepto acted swiftly on that front. 

He adds that the company voluntarily rolled back the changes: “A lot of it wasn’t received well on social media or by consumers, and honestly, much of the feedback was valid. I’ll be candid: It was a mistake. We killed it. It won’t happen again.”

According to him, the decision had nothing to do with regulatory pressure and everything to do with customer trust. 

“We want to be a customer-centric company,”he said. “When we started getting consistent negative feedback… we realised this isn’t who we are.”

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Expansion, Wallet Share, and the Next Phase

According to Aadit Palicha, India's hyperlocal consumption habits continue to justify Zepto's long-term bet on quick commerce. Categories such as apparel, electronics, accessories, toys, and cosmetics have grown at a rapid pace on the platform, even posting lower return rates than traditional e-commerce.

What he says the company focuses on now is increasing selection and wallet share from existing users, rather than aggressive customer acquisition. The next phase focuses on lean operations, cost reduction, and delivering better value.

Looking back on his journey: from college dropout to high-growth company leader, Palicha largely credits being surrounded by a strong leadership team for his learning.

He also rejects the idea that youth is a barrier in corporate environments. “The best way of doing it is to just show results,” he says.

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