Shareholder questions Zomato’s 100% green claim, Deepinder Goyal fires back, says 'public firms like us...'

A heated online debate erupted after a Zomato shareholder publicly questioned the company’s claim of “100% Green Deliveries.” The controversy started when Rajesh Sawhney, founder of GSF Accelerator, posted a picture of a Zomato delivery partner riding a petrol bike with “100% Green Deliveries” printed on their bag.

He remarked sarcastically, “Companies like Zomato should not make false claims just to sound cool. There is nothing ‘Green’ in this pic.”

Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal wasted no time in addressing the criticism. In a detailed rebuttal on X, Goyal explained, “We offset more than 100% of the carbon our delivery fleet generates. We have been doing this for the last few years, while taking the required steps to reach our promise of Net Zero by 2030.”

He added, “We also recycle more than 100% of the plastic used for food deliveries and are actively reducing the use of plastic in packaging. There’s no greenwashing here. Public companies like us cannot lie. Public institutions keep us accountable.”

The response was acknowledged by Sawhney, who appreciated Zomato’s commitment to sustainability but demanded transparency. “As a shareholder, I’d appreciate an audited report on ‘Offset’ that validates the claim of 100% Green Deliveries in 2024,” he said.

Sawhney also encouraged Goyal to adopt electric vehicles (EVs) in Gurugram to set an example for other delivery services.

The discussion spilled onto social media, dividing users. While some supported Zomato’s efforts and pointed out EV usage in deliveries, others expressed skepticism about the implementation.

One user wrote, “It takes time to switch from petrol to EVs on a large scale. Questioning is easy.” Another shared, “I often get a message about EV deliveries, but the vehicle turns out to be petrol-powered.”