For specific nearby locations: Zomato founder clarifies 10-minute food delivery plan

Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal on Tuesday clarified the 10-minute food delivery plan stating that the service will be for specific nearby locations.

New Delhi:Online food delivery platform Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal on Tuesday clarified the 10-minute food delivery plan stating that the service "will be for specific nearby locations, popular and standardised items only."

Goyal said, "Hello Twitter, good morning. I just want to tell you more about how 10-minute delivery works, and how it is as safe for our delivery partners as 30-minute delivery. This time, please take 2 minutes to read through this (before the outrage)," Goyal tweeted today morning.

"Zomato Instant will only be for items that are popular, standardised and can therefore be dispatched within 2 minutes. Ten-minute deliveries will lead to lesser to time spent on the road per order. We continue to educate our delivery partners on road safety and proved accidental/life insurance as well," he added.

"Delivery partners are not informed about promised delivery time for both 10 and 30 minutes deliveries. No penalties for late deliveries. No incentives for on-time deliveries for both 10- and 30-minute deliveries," Goyal said.

"10-minutes delivery will be for specific nearby locations, popular and standardised items only," he added. On a question about what items could customers expect in 10 minutes, Goyal replied, "Bread Omelette, Poha, Coffee, Chai, Biryani, Momos, etc."

The CEO's explanation came after people on social media criticized the company's plan terming it unnecessary and potentially dangerous for delivery partners. "Don't you think, you are risking lives of your delivery partners? How will you ensure their safety when they need to rush in traffic to deliver within this short time? And what abt food? will it be cooked well in hurry?" said a Twitter user.

Goyal on Monday had said that the fulfillment of his quick delivery promise will rely on a dense finishing stations' network, which will be located in close proximity to high-demand customer neighbourhoods. Zomato Instant will start a pilot with four stations in Gurugram from April onwards.