ZOMATO CONTROVERSY
Introduction and Facts
On 9th March 2021, a matter arose which had not been witnessed ever before, in the transactions made through online food delivery industries. The issue arose in the evening hours between Hitesha (an Instagram beauty influencer) and Kamaraj (a Zomato delivery boy). As per the statements of the two and what seems to be agreeable by both the individuals, a representation of what had happened can be drawn up.
Differences
in Narration
Now, this is where the scenarios shared by the two
differ. From what we know as facts, there was an altercation between the two , and from what was seen, Hitesha emerged with a fractured nose and a cut which
resulted in bleeding from the skin. The real question is, how exactly the
injury was caused to Hitesha. Kamaraj states that the injury was caused when he
tried to protect himself from the slippers which were being thrown at him by
Hitesha, while Hitesha claims that Kamaraj barged in and punched her on the
face.
What could have been the scenario is the burning
question. There are many loopholes that remain. As per Hitesha’s narration, the
man comes late and makes the delivery to her, which she accepts and keeps next
to the door on a table. She also alleged that the man was rude to her. Then,
while discussing with the customer care about the possibility of free
delivery, or a cancellation, she asks the man to take back the order if he can,
to which Kamaraj says that he cannot. At which point, according to Hitesh, the
man barged into her house saying he is not a slave and that he cannot wait and
punched her on the face. After which, he took the package and left.
As per Kamaraj’s narration, after making the delivery,
she denied to make the payment. After a while, Kamaraj gets word from Zomato
that the delivery has been cancelled. Kamaraj then asked Hitesha to return the
food back but she straight up denied him. In order not to create any fuss about
the issue, Kamaraj decides to pick up the delivery which was kept next to the
door and leave. And so, after picking up the food, he moves towards the lift
when the lady decides to throw slippers and hurl insults on the man. It was at
this point that while she was trying to push the man, Kamaraj hits her hand in
defense, which in turn hits her nose and causes the injury that was seen.
From what appears to be a cut on the nose, it is hard
to determine by looking at the wound, whether it was caused by the ring or if
she was actually punched which could also cause a cut as was seen. What seems
obvious is that a simple touch as stated by Kamaraj would not leave a fractured
nose. Clearly, there was a use of force involved and it was significant enough
to fracture the nasal bone.
Unreasonableness,
Inconsistencies and Concealment
As far as the narrations are concerned, the stories on
both ends appear to be quite in the extreme (and frankly, more so in the
narration made by Hitesha). In the narration made by her, the fact that the
delivery boy would be rude for arriving late and telling her not to waste ‘his
time’ is very unrealistic and is unheard of. More realistically, the delivery
boy would try to apologize and be nice in general so that he does not get a bad
review from the customer. To substantiate this aspect, it must be noted that
Kamaraj had a 4.7/5 rating after completing around 5000 deliveries for Zomato.
Putting two and two together, it would be unreasonable on the part of Hitesha’s
narration to expect that Kamaraj would have been rude from the beginning and
would have behaved with the lady in the manner that she spoke of him.
A close side by side analysis of the statements make
way for other factual inconsistencies in Hitesha’s narration. Hitesha in her
narration states that she took the delivery and placed it on the table next to
the door and while the alleged event of pushing the door happens, Kamaraj
allegedly snatched the delivery from her hand. Kamaraj in his narration states
that he picked up the food from the table, which she later in an interview made
by NDTV, stated that she had indeed placed the delivery on the table and was
not being held by her on her hand. This does not indicate anything of course
but it still shows the possibilities of factual inconsistencies in Hitesha’s
narration. While in Kamaraj’s narration he did not mention about the picking up
of the delivery from the table in one interview while in the other interview he
does mentions it. Again, it does not indicate anything but we can see that here
there was an attempt to conceal some aspects of the transaction. So a
generalized picture can be framed based on the narrations made by the two and
the details of the incident shared.
What
could have actually happened?
It seems that the door was partially closed and
Hitesha as stated was talking to Kamaraj through the narrow slit. Initially,
when Hitesha asked the man to take back the order, Kamaraj would have denied
since the order was not confirmed to have been cancelled yet by Zomato. Then,
after a while, when Hitesha had spoken to the customer care about the
transaction, Zomato tells Kamaraj that the order has been cancelled. As per
protocol, he asks Hitesha to return the food, but now, Hitesha denies returning
the delivery, since the company did not respect its policy of free food delivery.
Kamaraj knowing the fact that the delivery was kept right next to the door,
pushes the door, maybe not completely, but enough to enable him in taking the
possession of the food. This enrages Hitesha and she hits him with slippers and
what not. He then proceeds to go towards the lift but Hitesha follows the man
hurling slippers and abusing him. Kamaraj tries to defend himself and throws
his arm, which hits her hand and results in her hand hitting her nose, causing
the fracture and the cut. Kamaraj seeing the matter turn bad to worse thinks
about an escape. He enters the lift, but as stated by Hitesha, she decides (to
play the victim) to prevent him from going anywhere and shout for help. Kamaraj
seeing that the lady would not let go of him and the fact that if the people
came to the spot he would end up in the hospital with broken arms and an
assured dismissal from the job for attacking a woman, decides to make an escape
by opening the lift and pushing her aside in order to use the stairs and leave.
Hitesha without a care in the world for her bleeding nose takes to the
internet, about her version of what had happened and immediately there is a
mass support generated for her plight.
Some
Thoughts on the Controversy
The whole idea of posting the video of her bleeding
nose and playing the victim only goes to show that she was already planning to
turn the tide in her favor. She did not even think about ‘first aid’ (both
literally and metaphorically), the first thing or the first aid she does really,
is make a video and post it on the social media! Now this is a big surprise!
Regardless, the matter is now under investigation.
Sooner or later, it will be revealed as to what really caused the issue. But
for once, let us set aside all the factual matters about what had happened or
what might have happened and take a moment to reflect at what the cause of the
whole issue was. It is trite that the issue was about a late delivery. The
promised time was within one hour and the delivery boy got late by about twenty
minutes from the prescribed time owing to the traffic.
THIS issue created by the lady,
was nothing short of a ruthless attack on the poor man who could not do anything
about the jam. She had no care in the world for the risks the man had endured
to get her the food she wanted. And yet while the man was being apologetic, she
herself stated that she CONFRONTED him
about the late delivery. The term ‘confront’ shows the level of hatred she had
for the man who got the food. While the claim that she had the right to argue
with Zomato about the delivery is acceptable, at the same time her claim that
she had the right over the food as well, falls short of such privilege, since
she was not paying for it. And honestly, this is something which even a seven
year old would make out and it does not take any rocket science to wrap their
head around. One gets a commodity/ service in exchange for money!
It is not hard to realize that the consequences of
Zomato allowing such free deliveries could have profound implications for the
company as well. The company would naturally lose a lot of revenue and manpower
since it is quite frequent that deliveries don’t happen on time all the time
and clearly there are situations wherein deliveries become tough to achieve. Nonetheless,
how can she claim the right over the food without making a pay for it, simply
by substantiating her right with the reciprocal consideration of the amount of
time spent waiting for the delivery? This is just utterly shameful on behalf of
an educated lady.
Delivery boys like Kamaraj go through extreme work
conditions to earn their bread and butter. They earn their reputation from the
stars that they get through the customers feedback. It goes without mentioning
that they must be respected for the work they do. What if the delivery boy gets
late by a couple of minutes? Can it not be brushed aside? Or is it really that
annoying that one must make a fuss about it? It inadvertently (and without
wanting to be sarcastic on the matter) seems that the lady was quite jobless
during the period, what with the going issue of Corona and what not, so she had
time to spare and she did this.
Written by :
Danny Louis David
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