Zomato CEO Engages with Delivery Agents to Discuss Working Conditions and Tipping Culture

In a recent effort to understand the working conditions of his company's delivery agents, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal sat down with three of the company's delivery partners. Goyal aimed to gain insights into their experiences and the tipping culture in different cities. In one of the two videos shared, Goyal addressed common customer misconceptions about how tips are distributed.

"Why do people feel that we don't pass on the whole tip to you?" Deepinder Goyal asked the delivery partners. The agents confirmed that they do receive the entire tip amount.

The videos sparked a range of reactions on social media. Several people took a jibe at Zomato, likening the conversation to a boss asking his favorite employees if he is a bad manager.

Check out the video:

Zomato shared the video with a caption that says, "Spoke to Vinish, Umesha, Rajesh and Jaswinder about the tipping culture in different cities and what customers think about how tips work.

Thank you to all of you who tip your delivery partners."

“POV: HR asking employee if they are satisfied on the job or not, right before the appraisal week,” Instagram user Mahesh Prabhakaran joked.

“This feels like someone I know in the office asking his favorite people if he is a bad manager,” another user, Charushila, said.

However, not everyone was critical. Shantanu Deshpande, founder and CEO of Bombay Shaving Company, defended Goyal and Zomato, dismissing suspicions about the company taking tips as “ridiculous.”

"Leave aside the illogical need to take a risk like commissions off tips. A public company like Zomato can find far less risky ways to increase revenue," Deshpande said in a post on LinkedIn. “But such folks operate from a position of low trust. Their life and experiences have been shaped by low-trust environments. They assume everyone is conning them, from sarkaar (government) to sabzi wala (vegetable vendor).”

The delivery partners featured in Goyal's videos, Umesha from Bengaluru, Vinish from Thiruvananthapuram, and Jaswinder from Chandigarh, have all been with Zomato for around three years, working in different parts of India. Their firsthand accounts provided valuable perspectives on the company's operations and employee satisfaction.