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Deepinder Goyal: Zomato terminates 5,000 delivery workers every month
Beyond terminations, the company sees 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh workers depart voluntarily every month. Deepinder Goyal attributed this high turnover to the transitional nature of the role, noting that many individuals join to meet immediate financial needs and exit once those targets are reached.
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal disclosed that the food delivery platform terminates roughly 5,000 gig workers monthly due to fraudulent activities. Speaking on Raj Shamani’s podcast, Goyal stated that these dismissals stem from actions such as riders marking orders as delivered prematurely or failing to provide change for cash-on-delivery transactions.
Beyond terminations, the company sees 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh workers depart voluntarily every month. Goyal attributed this high turnover to the transitional nature of the role, noting that many individuals join to meet immediate financial needs and exit once those targets are reached. To maintain its fleet, the company onboards an equivalent number of new partners monthly.
The executive also addressed customer-side fraud, which he characterized as a significant challenge. Reported tactics include customers placing hair in meals to secure refunds or submitting AI-generated images of damaged food. Zomato utilizes an internal "karma score" system to evaluate the credibility of both riders and customers during disputes. Goyal noted that the company absorbs the financial loss in 50% to 70% of reported cases.
While Zomato remains the primary profit generator for its parent company, Eternal, its revenue was recently surpassed by the quick commerce vertical, Blinkit.
Regarding market competition, Goyal acknowledged the difficulty of competing against Swiggy, particularly in the food delivery and quick-commerce sectors. He noted that while he does not monitor rivals' operations daily, Swiggy remains a formidable opponent. Addressing Zepto, Goyal cited their marketing as effective but stated that many of their marketing staff are former Zomato employees. He also described Zepto founder Aadit Palicha as smart and earnest.
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