Alleged employee claims 'deep crisis' at Zomato; CEO says 'utter nonsense'

New Delhi, April 26 (IANS) After an anonymous social media post from an alleged employee claimed that Zomato (now Eternal) is facing a deep internal crisis, the online food delivery major on Saturday dismissed such emails, saying that such claims are “utter nonsense.”

A viral Reddit post, allegedly from a Zomato employee, raised concerns about the company’s internal practices and competitive standing. The post described a “toxic” work environment, citing the abrupt exit of Rakesh Ranjan, former CEO of Zomato’s food delivery division (Zomato has clarified that Ranjan has not resigned from his position).

In a post on X social media platform, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal denied these claims, reaffirming support for employee freedom of choice.

“All of this… is utter nonsense. Neither are we losing market share, nor will we ever force our employees to order on Zomato. Freedom of choice is something we stand for vehemently,” said Zomato Co-founder.

He further stated that it is embarrassing to even clarify this “but doing it since many people reached out to me with concern”.

“And thanks everybody for your concern... appreciate it,” he added.

The anonymous post claimed Zomato was losing ground to rivals like Zepto Cafe and Swiggy.

According to the whistleblower, employees were allegedly required to make a minimum of seven orders per month on Zomato, with monitoring mechanisms in place. The post read that one of the major challenges facing the industry pertains to the treatment of delivery partners.

Earlier this week, the company issued the statement after a media report claimed that Ranjan was stepping down as part of a leadership reshuffle, with Zomato’s co-founder and CEO Goyal expected to take interim charge.

Zomato’s parent company, Eternal Group, announced that as of now, Ranjan has not submitted any resignation and continues to be part of the leadership team.

The online food platform added that leadership changes are a regular part of their efforts to improve the organisation's effectiveness.

--IANS

na/