A Zomato customer in Ahmedabad, who placed an order of three plates of theplas for Rs 60 each was charged Rs 60 for the food containers. Complaining about the fee, the woman took to Twitter and demanded an explanation from the food tech company.
“Container charge is equivalent to the item that I have ordered Rs 60 for the container charge. Seriously?” Khushboo Thakkar tweeted tagging Zomato.
A photo of the bill shared showed that each plate of the ordered dish was worth Rs 60 — same as the fee charged for the food container.
Responding to the tweet, Zomato explained, “Hi Khushboo, while taxes are universal and vary from 5 percent to 18 percent depending on the type of food. Packaging charges are levied by our restaurant partners, they are the ones who implement and earn from this practice.”
“I find the Rs 60 container charge excessive and unfair. Shouldn’t it be the restaurant’s responsibility to provide containers without extra cost to customers?” Thakkar commented.
Soon, other Twitter users agreed that Rs 60 was too big an amount to be charged for disposable containers to pack six theplas.
A few other Twitter users pointed out that Zomato shows the packaging charges levied by the restaurant before the order is placed.
“Did you not review it before confirming the order? If you had concerns you shouldn’t have confirmed the order. Simple,” a Twitter user wrote. “Why did you buy it when they show all these crap charges before delivery,” another commented.
In June 2022, Zomato and its rival Swiggy were under the government’s scanner for “veracity” of the delivery and packaging charges they include in the bills.