Zomato issues statement over 'Hindi' row; apologises & announces Tamil version of app

After facing flak over asking a Tamilian customer to know Hindi, food delivery platform Zomato issued a public apology to the state of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday. In its statement released both in English and Tamil, Zomato apologised for the behaviour of their customer care agent, saying that it did not represent the company's stance towards language and diversity. Urging people to not 'Boycott Zomato', the food delivery giant revealed that it was in the process of building a local app in Tamil.

The company said, "We are sorry for the behaviour of our customer care agent, we have terminated the agent for their negligence towards our diverse culture. The termination is in line with our protocols, and the agent's behaviour was clearly against the principles of sensitivity that we train our agents for on a regular basis." It added, "The customer care agent's statements do not represent our company's stance towards language and diversity."

"At Zomato we are building a Tamil Version of our app. We have already localised marketing communication in Tamil for the state, and we are in the process of building a local Tamil call/support centre in Coimbatore. We understand food and language are core to any local culture and we take both of them seriously," the statement read.

Zomato controversy 

On Tuesday morning, 'Boycott Zomato' began to trend on social media after a Tamil Nadu native claimed he was told that he 'should know little Hindi' by the company's customer service executive. A Twitter user named Vikash wrote on the microblogging platform that he contacted Zomato customer service after an item was missing from his order. He alleged that he was told that his payment could not be refunded because of a language barrier. In response, Zomato's Twitter helpline replied that it was 'unacceptable' and sought his contact details to address the issue. 

The customer care agent who sparked the entire language debate was fired by Zomato. However, as per the latest statement of founder Deepinder Goyal, she has been reinstated over her 'ignorant mistake'. "This is easily something she can learn and do better about going forward," he said.

Image: PTI