Zomato has been criticized for taking down a review about food poisoning by a customer (Disha Sanghvi) who went to a restaurant in Bangalore. Zomato then justified taking down the comment by stating that the platform was no place to report health code violations. After which Disha took to Twitter and revealed how Zomato had taken down her review. She also claimed that she wasn’t the only one to feel sick after eating the food, including a screenshot from another customer with a similar issue.
Disha received an email from Zomato stating, “We do have a few restrictions when it comes to content that is permitted on Zomato. As per our content guidelines, Zomato is not the appropriate platform for reporting health code violations. We believe that this particular subject is best reported to the concerned authorities who can investigate the matter. Due to this reason, your review has been deleted”.
https://twitter.com/DishaRSanghvi/status/1586641077087260672?s=20&t=4y18_MuCLacTEvReHb7uQg
Zomato’s website asks customers to report to concerned authorities in case of any illegal activity, physical confrontations, or health violations instead of posting reviews about these issues. The website further states “If your activity on Zomato doesn’t match up to these content guidelines, we reserve the right to take action as we deem necessary. This could include altering or deleting your reviews or comments, restricting your review activity, or deleting your Zomato account altogether, with or without notice. Zomato also utilizes an algorithm to aid in removing suspicious reviews.”
Following the incident, Zomato has decided to remove the policy of not allowing customers to give reviews surrounding health issues, physical confrontations, etc. Zomato’s founder & CEO Deepinder Goyal tweeted saying “This “policy” within our content guidelines is a result of (legal) overthinking, and we have removed this policy with immediate effect. We have also reinstated your review already. Thank you for bringing this to our notice and influencing positive change”.
