'Pure veg mode' fleet will also wear colour red: Zomato CEO

New Delhi, March 20: Facing flak over his decision to launch a ‘pure veg mode,’ Zomato Co-founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal on Wednesday said the company has decided to remove the on-ground segregation of its rider fleet on the ground using the colour green.

Earlier, the riders for ‘pure veg mode’ were supposed to wear only green uniform, not the Zomato’s colour red.

“While we are going to continue to have a fleet for vegetarians, we have decided to remove the on-ground segregation of this fleet on the ground using the colour green. All our riders — both our regular fleet, and our fleet for vegetarians — will wear the colour red,” Goyal posted on X.

It means that the fleet meant for vegetarian orders will not be identifiable on the ground (but will show on the app that your veg orders will be served by the veg only fleet).

“This will ensure that our red uniform delivery partners are not incorrectly associated with non-veg food, and blocked by any RWAs or societies during any special days… our riders’ physical safety is of paramount importance to us,” said the company CEO.

Late on Tuesday, Goyal had clarified that if the company sees any significant negative social repercussions of this decision, “we will roll it back in a heartbeat”.

“We now realise that even some of our customers could get into trouble with their landlords, and that would not be a nice thing if that happened because of us,” said Goyal.

Earlier, he had announced the ‘pure veg mode’ along with the ‘pure veg fleet’ on his platform for customers with 100 per cent vegetarian dietary preference.

His decision drew criticism from various quarters on social media.

The 'pure veg mode' will consist of a curation of restaurants that serve only vegetarian food and exclude all restaurants that serve non-vegetarian items.