Zomato is rebranding Instant, its ten-minute food delivery service, and not shutting it down, a company spokesperson said. The statement has come amid reports claiming that the company was planning to close Instant, launched less than a year ago, owing to tough market conditions.
However, the spokesperson clarified that it was working on a new menu for the service. “Instant is not shutting down. We are working on a new menu with our partners and rebranding the business. All finishing stations remain intact, and no people are impacted by this decision,” the spokesperson said. The food aggregator had launched Instant in March 2022.
Earlier this month, Zomato Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Gunjan Patidar resigned from the company. Patidar was one of the first few employees of Zomato and built the core tech systems for the company, it said in a regulatory filing.
In November last year, another co-founder of the company, Mohit Gupta, had resigned. Gupta, who had joined Zomato four-and-a-half years back, was elevated to co-founder in 2020 from the position of CEO of its food delivery business.
Zomato had witnessed some top-level exits last year, including those of Rahul Ganjoo, who was head of new initiatives, and Siddharth Jhawar, the erstwhile vice-president and head of Intercity, and co-founder Gaurav Gupta.
On the other hand, in the recent Fairwork India Ratings 2022 Report, Zomato scored 4 out of 10 on the basis of providing fair working conditions for gig workers. The ratings were decided based on the assessment of several online platforms against five principles: Fair Pay, Fair Conditions, Fair Contracts, Fair Management, and Fair Representation.