Popular food delivery app Zomato has once again found itself at the centre of controversy. A restaurant owner, Manish, has criticised the company and its CEO, Deepinder Goyal, for allegedly marginalising small businesses. He claimed that Zomato had withheld his payouts for the past two months, causing significant financial distress. Manish also called out the platform for imposing extra service charges and hidden fees without prior notice. In a stern statement on X, he voiced his frustration and grievances, stating that "small outlets deserve better." He also attached screenshots of the transactions as evidence. Manish's restaurant, Saffroma, is located in Noida.
Tagging Zomato and Deepinder Goyal in his post, Manish wrote, "I'm finally pulling my restaurant off your platform. Congrats! Your mystery service charges, surprise ad placements (without consent), and a POC who ghosts like it's a talent show-truly inspiring. Small outlets deserve better. Quality > commissions."
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Dear @zomato@deepigoyal I'm finally pulling my restaurant off your platform. Congrats! Your mystery service charges, surprise ad placements (without consent), and a POC who ghosts like it's a talent show—truly inspiring. Small outlets deserve better. Quality > commissions.— Manish (@maniyakiduniya) May 31, 2025
“Sharing here the screenshots of the zero payout summary for the last 2 months. This ad was applied without our knowledge and consent,” he added in the follow-up post. The screenshots showed that Manish received zero payouts, as claimed, despite fulfilling several orders.
Sharing here the screenshots of the zero payout summary for last 2 months....This ad was applied without our knowledge and consent pic.twitter.com/JKn8Y5N5Sh— Manish (@maniyakiduniya) May 31, 2025
On a concluding note, Manish shared, “Is this how u support small businesses, Mr Deepinder Goyal? 5 months into this business and I'm very clear about one thing... my case is just the tip of the iceberg. There are countless stories of closed/failed businesses that relied solely on online platforms for orders.”
1/2 Is this how u support small businesses Mr. @deepigoyal ? ...5 months into this business and I'm very clear about one thing... my case is just tip of the iceberg..There are countless stories of closed/failed businesses who relied solely on online platforms for orders.— Manish (@maniyakiduniya) May 31, 2025
Zomato reacted to the post and asked Manish to share his restaurant ID for the team to contact him.
We hear you! As mentioned earlier, please share your restaurant ID with us via DM, so that our team can get in touch with you. https://t.co/jcTFuGSv2G— Zomato Care (@zomatocare) May 31, 2025
Here's how social media users reacted:
“Even I'm facing issues, whereas I've seen big brands' payouts with 0 charges for growth and ads, I don't know how their deal works with Zomato, maybe they pay separately,” wrote one.
Even I am facing issues whereas I have seen big brands payouts with 0 charges for growth and ads I don't know how there deal works with Zomato maybe they pay separately— Sameer Singh (@_st_101) May 31, 2025
“Totally support your move. The aggregators gouge you severely in the name of access to the marketplace,” commented another.
Totally support your move. The aggregators gouge you severely in the name of access to the marketplace.— Vishwa Kiran (@vishwak) June 1, 2025
“It was bound to happen, Zomato and Swiggy steal from both consumers and restaurants. Have been on both sides,” shared an individual.
It was bound to happen , Zomato and Swiggy steal from both consumers and restaurants. Have been on the both sides. we stopped our restaurant from swiggy and zomato few years ago when we noticed similar things.— Akash Devkate (@Akashd7) June 1, 2025
“Surprise ad placements without consent are really a menace from Zomato. The Zomato account managers just start any ad or any discount without asking the restaurant, the fees of which get deducted from the payouts. Very hard to earn from Zomato,” read a critical remark.
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Surprise ad placements without consent are really a menace by Zomato. The Zomato account managers just start any ad any discount without asking the restaurant, fees of which gets deducted from the payouts. Very hard to earn from Zomato.— Sushil S. Agarwal (@jivanmukt) June 1, 2025
So far, the post has crossed 2 million views. What are your thoughts on this?