Zomato Issues Clarification Over Presence Of Suspicious One-Dish Restaurants

The company said it had 'delisted' some of the fraudulent restaurants on its app that may have gamed the system.

Facing criticism over the presence of suspicious 'one-dish' restaurants on its platform, India's food delivery giant, Zomato, has issued a response. The company said it had 'delisted' some of the fraudulent restaurants on its app that may have gamed the system to push 'prohibited items'. The emergence of shady listings on Zomato had led to social media users floating several conspiracy theories, with some believing that the restaurants were a front for drug trade while others claimed that Zomato was facilitating 'money laundering' business.

"We have identified all such restaurants that were potentially fraudulent and have delisted them from our platform. To solve this more comprehensively, we have also investigated all other restaurants which have a very limited menu on Zomato and might have listed prohibited items or worked around a way to list prohibited items," a Zomato spokesperson said.

"As per our policy, all restaurants listed on Zomato need to have a FSSAI license and we also actively block items such as alcohol, cigarettes/cigars/vapes from being listed on our platform," they added.