Popular food delivery platform Zomato has been hitting the headlines lately—and not for the right reasons. From service complaints to rising platform fees, the company is once again under fire, this time for allegedly overcharging on a simple street food item, vada pav.
Zomato has landed in a controversy after a customer took to social media to call out what she described as digital loot.
The user pointed out a major price difference between what Haldiram’s charges at its physical outlets and what is listed on the Zomato platform. According to her viral post, Haldiram’s sells vada pav for INR 40 in-store, but the same item was listed at ₹80 on Zomato—double the price.
Check out the post here:-
The customer also highlighted additional charges including delivery fees, platform fees, and taxes, which pushed her total bill to INR 253.30. Frustrated, she tagged Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, Chirag Paswan, asking what actions could be taken against such pricing practices by food delivery platforms.
In response, Zomato issued a clarification, stating that they do not control the pricing of food items, which is set by the restaurant itself. They assured the customer that the feedback would be forwarded to Haldiram’s and that they’d request the restaurant to look into the concern.
Zomato’s reply read:
“Hi there, thanks for bringing this to our attention! Just a heads-up, while we’re a go-between for you and the restaurant, we don’t set the prices. But don’t worry, we’ll pass this feedback to the restaurant and ask them to have a peek at it. We hope this helps with your concern.”
As the post continues to gain attention online, the incident has once again sparked a broader conversation around price transparency and the rising platform fees on food delivery apps.