Zomato’s new feature allows you to receive canceled orders at a discount

Zomato has rolled out a new feature for users in India, which aims to minimize food waste due to canceled orders. The feature, called Food Rescue, allows users to pick up orders canceled by others at nearby restaurants at discounted prices for a limited time. The food delivery platform says orders will be received by customers within a short time and in undamaged packaging. However, only select food items are eligible for this service, excluding items such as ice cream or shakes.

Zomato’s food rescue feature

In a blog afterZomato has announced that recently canceled orders will be visible to customers on the app within a 3 kilometer radius of the delivery partner. The orders can only be claimed for a few minutes and the original customers, as well as those in their immediate vicinity, will not be able to collect their respective orders. If payment for the canceled order has already been made online, the amount paid by the new customer will be shared between him and the restaurant partner. Zomato says the platform will only deduct the required government taxes from the fee.

According to the food delivery platform, 99.9 percent of restaurant partners want to sign up for this initiative. At Food Rescue, they not only get a refund for the canceled order, but also a small portion of the amount paid by the customer who grabbed the order. Moreover, the delivery partners will also be fully reimbursed for the entire journey, says Zomato.

To minimize misuse of this feature, the original customer will continue to pay a cancellation fee to cancel the order; 100 percent of the total amount. Zomato confirms that items that are sensitive to distance or temperatures, such as ice creams, shakes, smoothies and other perishable items, are not eligible for this initiative. It also highlights that customers who prefer vegetarian food will not see non-vegetarian orders.