As COVID-19 continues to spread across borders, destroying various industries in its wake, restaurants and the hospitality business have taken a deep hit. According to Deepinder Goyal, CEO, Zomato, the dining-out business has been badly hit in many countries, owing to the virus outbreak and the lockdown. In a series of tweets, Goyal claims that hundreds of Zomato employees will be taking voluntary pay cuts to conserve cash and donate towards its ‘delivery partner fund’, as well as the ‘Feed the Daily Wager’ campaign.
Apart from talking about how the business has been affected by the lockdown, Goyal also announced several measures to help Zomato customers and partners. “All-paid Zomato Gold members across India, the UAE, Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Lebanon, Turkey, New Zealand, Portugal and Qatar will get a two-month membership extension at zero cost,” he wrote in another tweet.
For its Gold partners (dining out), the Company said it will facilitate working capital loans to get through this tough time. Zomato will also facilitate loans for its food-delivery restaurant partners, who have been severely hit because of this lockdown.
Acknowledging the problems faced by its fleet of more than 2.3 lakh delivery riders, Zomato is launching a fund to cover their lost earnings. While details are not announced yet, Goyal said they are expecting the Government’s support for this initiative.
