Zomato launches priority food delivery service for Covid-19 emergencies

Food delivery platform Zomato has launched a priority delivery service for Covid-related emergencies. 

Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal, a twitter post, said the platform will prioritize orders that are marked as ‘Covid-19 emergency’ by providing fastest rider assignment and dedicated customer support. 

Goyal said 'thousands of restaurants' have pledged to prioritize these orders above all others. 

“Today, along with thousands of our restaurant partners, we just rolled out a “priority delivery for covid emergencies'' feature on the Zomato app. This feature will allow our customers to mark *This order is related to a COVID-19 emergency* option during checkout,” he wrote on Twitter. 

Today, along with thousands of our restaurant partners, we just rolled out a “priority delivery for covid emergencies'' feature on the Zomato app. This feature will allow our customers to mark *This order is related to a COVID-19 emergency* option during checkout. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/BxmBF02PnS

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) April 21, 2021

He said all Covid-19 emergency deliveries will be contactless by default. He also requested all customers to opt in for contactless deliveries.

Answering to a query on Twitter, Goyal said the company is working on a service where its delivery fleet would pick homemade food from houses to those affected. 

India has been struggling to contain the brutal second wave of Covid-19 epidemic. The country recorded a global record 314,835 new infections on Thursday even as its healthcare system continues to crumble due to critical shortage of hospital beds and oxygen. 

Gurugram based Zomato is en route to an IPO this year, which will make it the first foodtech startup from India to go public. The company is backed by investors such as Tiger Global Management, Info Edge India, and Mirae Asset Capital.