Swiggy and Zomato Introduce ‘Contactless’ Food Delivery Service

Customers can instruct for contactless food delivery service in view of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Zomato and Swiggy delivery personnel will leave order outside a customer’s doorstep and send a photo to the recipient to collect it.

(Photo Courtesy: iStock / Altered by The Quint)

While more people begin to adopt work-from-home or self-quarantine practices in view of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, food delivery apps Swiggy and Zomato have taken steps to introduce “contactless” food delivery for the safety of its delivery staff and customers.

Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal explained how the process works in a series of tweets.

The Zomato app will soon feature an update where customers can choose the kind of delivery they want. At the moment, this can be updated manually in the “delivery instructions” section of the app once an online order is place.

The Zomato delivery executive will leave the order outside the door of the customer’s premises and send a picture to the customer to ensure that the order has been received.

Goyal went on to add: “Delivery partners are being sent various advisories on COVID-19 released by the Ministry of Health & Family Affairs to keep them updated on the situation. We are especially emphasizing best practices of how to handle food packages to ensure safe and hygienic delivery. We have asked our delivery partners to self quarantine or reach out to a doctor immediately if they have any symptoms.”

Swiggy too has a similar section where customers can instruct delivery personnel to drop orders outside the door. It sent out a newsletter to users a couple of days ago with the measures it is undertaking to ensure hygiene in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

Swiggy’s statement:

• Our delivery partners are continually being trained in best practices of respiratory hygiene, proper method & frequency of washing hands as well as identification of associated symptoms.
• Should a delivery partner notice any associated symptoms, they’ve been asked to immediately reach out to us and consult a medical professional. We are providing them with free medical consultation through our partners in such cases.
• Our delivery partners have also been advised to self-quarantine themselves for the recommended period upon noticing any symptoms. To ensure their financial safety, we are committed to supporting them financially in such situations.
• We are also in touch with our restaurant partners to ensure they’re aware of the best hygiene practices while handling and packaging food items.
• Additionally, you may request the delivery partner to leave your package by the door (in case of online payment), in case you are feeling unwell or prefer so.

Put together, Zomato and Swiggy deliver about 2.6 million orders every day. With work-from-home and self-quarantine now taking place among several users, this number could increase and hence these precautions are being taken.