Restaurant Association plans fresh movement against online food aggregators

The NRAI will very soon initiate a movement against online delivery aggregators which are affecting the sustainability and growth of the restaurant industry.

New Delhi: With more than 2,500 restaurants now logged out against the deep discounting practices of online food aggregators across the country, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) on Saturday said it will soon begin a more intense movement to stop "unethical" practices being adopted by online food apps like Zomato Gold.

"The NRAI will very soon initiate a movement against online delivery aggregators which are affecting the sustainability and growth of the restaurant industry," it said in a statement.

Founded in 1982, the NRAI represents the interests of over 5 lakh restaurants.

Sounding the bugle for bitter days ahead, the restaurants' body headed by Rahul Singh has locked horns with Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal who himself has announced to log out of the #logout campaign.

On Friday, Singh hit back at Goyal by starting a new campaign #ZoGoisNoGo.

"We thank Dineout, Eazydiner, magicpin and Nearbuy for rejigging their features to eradicate the deep discounting epidemic.

"However, Zomato has decided to cut all ties through a statement of their assertion of logging out of the logout campaign. From our end, that simply implies #ZoGoisNoGo," Singh said in a statement.

A Zomato spokesperson reacted: "We stand by our 10-point improvement plan that addresses the collective concerns of our restaurant partners while keeping our users' best interests in mind."

Zomato has been accused by the NRAI of "unethical" deep discounting practices for its "Gold" programme.

The magicpin and Dineout have already come out in Singh's support.

The NRAI on August 14 announced the #logout movement to detox customers from discount addiction and give restaurant industry freedom from aggregators who have "distorted a vibrant marketplace by aggressive discounting and predatory pricing".