“We have Shrawan and I don’t need a delivery from a Muslim fellow”, the man wrote stating his reasons for changing his delivery person. “We have Shrawan and I don’t need a delivery from a Muslim fellow”, the man wrote stating his reasons for changing his delivery person.

A man cancelled his order on app-based food delivery service Zomato because the delivery person was from a different religion. But Zomato responded by taking a stand and is getting a lot of praise for it on social media.

A user of the app complained to Zomato about how the service had “allocated a non-Hindu rider” to deliver an order. He added that the company said “they can’t change rider and can’t refund on cancellation”. Infuriated with the cancellation charges, the man threatened the service with legal action.

ALSO READ | After the incident involving a Zomato delivery person, why #BoycottUberEats is trending

“@ZomatoIN is forcing us to take deliveries from people we don’t want else they won’t refund and won’t cooperate I am removing this app and will discuss the issue with my lawyers,” the user tweeted.

The man also shared a conversation with the company’s helpdesk, which had wanted to know what the issue with the rider was.

“We have Shrawan and I don’t need a delivery from a Muslim fellow”, the man wrote in the conversation.

The company replied that the cancellation after the delivery person has picked the order would cost the user Rs 237. The user alleged that the company blocked him from accessing the details of his order on the site. “Now the history of my latest order has been blocked I asked them to cancel they did it why aren’t they showing details on the site they can show that I ordered cancellation without refund they did so,” he added.



As the man’s complaint garnered attention, the company took to Twitter to reply: “Food doesn’t have a religion. It is a religion.”

Food doesn’t have a religion. It is a religion. https://t.co/H8P5FlAw6y — Zomato India (@ZomatoIN) July 31, 2019

Then company’s CEO Deepinder Goyal also weighed in with a tweet in which he stood by the company’s decision.

“We are proud of the idea of India – and the diversity of our esteemed customers and partners. We aren’t sorry to lose any business that comes in the way of our values,” he wrote.

We are proud of the idea of India – and the diversity of our esteemed customers and partners. We aren’t sorry to lose any business that comes in the way of our values. 🇮🇳 https://t.co/cgSIW2ow9B — Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) July 31, 2019

The responses by the company and its CEO was liked by many, who also slammed the customer for his remarks. Many also observed that not getting food delivered by a person from another religion had no basis in Hinduism.

I have not ordered food so far, but I think I will do so now from Zomato. — P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) July 31, 2019

Heart touching indeed as the offence was disgusting. — Dr. S.Y. Quraishi (@DrSYQuraishi) July 31, 2019

Kudos 2 u Mr. Goyal ! @deepigoyal THANK YOU for standing up for the real idea of #India & true Indian values! You are a true citizen & patriot. 🇮🇳 More power to u!! @ZomatoIN @Zomato ♥️ I hope larger corporations who in the past haven’t had the courage 2 stand up to trolls learn! https://t.co/TEdME0y0d3 — Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) July 31, 2019

Love it when big organisations and companies show spine and uphold good principles and values in these trying times 👏 https://t.co/GPBkAxefXQ — Sydney Atkins (@sydneydxb) July 31, 2019

Thanks @ZomatoIN for taking a stand! Please don’t compromise over such hatemongers! Can’t let religion divide us! https://t.co/0xSFiYTSW4 — anubhuti gaur (@gaur_anubhuti) July 31, 2019

Utter shit! Ppl like them are the blot on this nation. When you see such ppl’ post, your day is screwed. @ZomatoIN I’ve enjoyed your service but never ever could imagined that shitty logic! God save this country from these hooligans. As they say, jingoism is the new patriotism🤧 https://t.co/Cbor6G7Hms — Ashutosh Yadav 🇮🇳 (@Ashutoshkry_29) July 31, 2019

Thank you for being brave. Very rare in the cowardice-filled Corporate world. Get ready for troll attacks, App deinstalls, one or two IT raids perhaps, and lots of barbs. In short, the standard toolkit. — Sandeep Manudhane (@sandeep_PT) July 31, 2019

Fantastic! I think here you lost one but gained a million.. Well Done, @ZomatoIN! — PRANAV (@P9Pranav) July 31, 2019

ThankYou @ZomatoIN fr upholding #HumanDignity #HumanityFirst n respect fr food as best possible response to a bigot who disrespect his own believe n faith by being such a low life nobody!Downloading @Zomato app now to welcome all delivery personnel with dignity n care. #JaiHind — Syed Salman Chishty (@sufimusafir) July 31, 2019

Well said! Rare to find corporate voices publicly rejecting the growing hate and bigotry. 👏👏 — SamSays (@samjawed65) July 31, 2019

bro you’re the reason for all the problems in this world, i hope you know many non Hindu’s also work for twitter so pls delete your tweet. — Sanjay Manaktala (@smanak) July 31, 2019

Stop using petrol too that comes from the gulf the Muslim country….

Cos India is the largest importer of crude oil from Gcc countries… (Muslim countries) — RiA (@RiaRevealed) July 31, 2019

Please remove pandit from your name because you have neither knowledge, nor wisdom, or compassion or humility to be a true brahmin. Btw the word Brahmin comes from Brahm and Mann. The one whose mind becomes one with Brahm. And your mind is in the gutter.

Get well soon. — karanbir singh (@karanbirtinna) July 31, 2019

You should also always call the restaurant & ensure that your food is also cooked by a Hindu. Ideally a Brahmin, Pandit Ji.

And you should most defn not use Zomato which has some Chinese ownership.

Have some shame and be a true patriot, a true Sanskaari and a true Hindu Brahmin. — amitbehere (@amitbehere) July 30, 2019

Why don’t you grow your food? Do take /use cash used/touched by Muslim? How do you know that?@Zomato @ZomatoIN well done💐 — கல்வெட்டு (@kalvetu) July 30, 2019

Why not fast the whole savan?

Maybe the world will also be relieved with your Bigotry — Vaishnavi Gaur (@vaishnavigaur) July 31, 2019

Well said ! Wish we had more of your kind in the corporate world who stands against hate and bigotry in the name of religion. Food doesn’t see any caste or religion then why should the person consuming it see otherwise. 🙏 RESPECT — Deepak Kumar Misra (@DeepakK84479217) July 31, 2019

@ZomatoIN Pls do share our support to Faiyaz, the delivery guy. And permanently block this guy from your services if you really care about your delivery guys. — Ravi Chandar (@ravikchandar) July 30, 2019

As the controversy took social media by storm, the profile of the man whose tweets triggered the debate vanished from Twitter.

As the controversy escalated, there was also a discussion around the options of halal meat and Jain food being provided on the aggregator. In its clarification, the company explained why they offer such tags and said that while an FSSAI license is mandatory, halal certification is voluntary.

In a statement titled, “food, religion and halal”, the brand clarified that it respects all religions and strives to provide various kinds of food like – Jain, Vegan and Navratra thalis.

Food for thought pic.twitter.com/zZ3k6YfuzI — Zomato India (@ZomatoIN) July 31, 2019

Asked about the customer’s refusal to take delivery from him, the Zomato executive admitted he is feeling hurt over whatever happened.

“Han hurt to hue hai. Ab kya bolenge sir, ab log jaisa bolenge..sahi hai is par kya kar sakte hai gareeb log hai… sahna padega sir (Yes I feel hurt. What can I say sir, whatever people say…its okay what I can do in it… we are

poor, we have suffer),” he said.

This isn’t the first time a service provider has been targeted over their religion. In 2018, a VHP activist’s tweet bragging about cancelling a cab booking because the driver was Muslim provoked outrage and condemnation.

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