Zomato has suspended one of its delivery executives for allegedly assaulting a woman, who had complained against him over the late delivery of food, as per a report by The News Minute.
The executive was arrested on Wednesday, 10 March, in Bengaluru , the police said, reported news agency PTI.
Zomato in its response said, "We deeply regret the incident that happened between Hitesha Chandranee and the delivery partner in Bengaluru. We can assure you this is not the experience our delivery universe upholds. The case is currently under investigation by the police. We have extended our full support to help resolve this with our team on ground being on top of it."
"We spoke to Hitesha as soon we got (news of) the escalation, met her and offered our complete support. We're in constant touch with her. As per our protocol, we've suspended the delivery partner from our platform pending investigation. Our team has been with him throughout and we'll ensure due process is followed," the company was quoted by The News Minute as saying.
In a video posted on Instagram, the Bengaluru-based content creator and makeup artist had alleged that she was assaulted by a delivery executive on 9 March after an altercation over a delayed food delivery.
In the video, she was seen with a bloody gash on her nose, alleging that the delivery executive attacked her after she confronted him over the delay. She further added that the delivery executive barged into her home and abused her.
According to the video posted by her, she placed an order at 3.30 pm which was supposed to be delivered by 4.30 pm, but since she did not receive her order on time, she got in touch with Zomato’s customer support asking them to either waive off the charges for the order or cancel the order.
When the delivery executive arrived, she asked him to wait as she was speaking to a customer care representative, which is when she says he started abusing her.
“The Zomato delivery guy came and he was so rude. I don’t usually open the door because of Shushi [her pet dog] and I opened the door a little and through the small slit I asked him to wait because I was conversing with Zomato’s customer support,” Hitesha said in the video.
“I gave him a choice saying I do not need the order so you can take it, I am okay. But he refused to take the order back and he started screaming at me, saying ‘Am I a slave or what? You are asking me to wait here.’ So, it was really threatening for me and I tried to shut my door but he pushed the door, took my order from the table, that is he entered my home and punched me on my face so that I don’t get back to him, and he ran away,” she said in the video.
Sources told The News Minute that the delivery executive has alleged that Hitesha hit him with a slipper to which he responded in self-defence and that resulted in her getting hurt due to a door. Zomato's detailed reaction is expected after they speak to both parties.
Twitter users reacted to the incident asking Zomato to investigate the matter. Zomato reached to Hitesha saying they would help out with medical care.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)