Deepinder Goyal barred from mall’s main entrance while working as delivery agent

Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal recently took on the role of a food delivery agent for a day, alongside his wife, Grecia Munoz, to better understand the challenges faced by the platform's delivery executives. His experience shed light on the difficult conditions delivery workers often face, particularly within certain environments.

In a video shared, Goyal documented an incident at Ambience Mall, Gurgaon, where he was denied entry through the main entrance while picking up an order from Haldiram’s. The mall’s security personnel instructed him to use a side staircase, a policy reportedly applied to all delivery executives, barring them from accessing the main area of the mall.

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A post shared by Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal)

Goyal described climbing to the third floor, only to be told that he could not enter the restaurant to pick up the order and would have to wait at the stairwell instead. Joining other delivery workers in the stairwell, Goyal sat with them and gathered feedback on their daily struggles. "We need to work more closely with malls to improve conditions for all delivery partners," Goyal stated in the video, calling for a more humane approach to the treatment of gig workers.

Ambience Mall in Gurgaon has swiftly responded to Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal’s recent social media post highlighting the difficulties faced by delivery executives when accessing the mall. Following Goyal’s experience, the mall has now introduced a designated pickup point for food delivery partners.

In an update, Goyal thanked Arjun, the owner of Ambience Mall, for noticing the issue and taking prompt action. "Thanks, Arjun, for quickly addressing this and creating a comfortable online food delivery pickup point for all delivery partners," Goyal shared.

In addition, Arjun has agreed to allow Zomato to deploy "walkers" inside the mall, who will shuttle food from restaurants to the pickup points for a smoother handover to delivery executives.

Goyal also used the opportunity to urge other mall owners to consider similar measures or develop innovative solutions to ensure better service for customers, delivery partners, restaurants, delivery aggregators, and malls alike.

Goyal’s on-ground experience highlighted not only the physical challenges delivery workers face but also the broader need for better collaboration between delivery platforms and malls to ensure smoother, more respectful treatment of delivery personnel.

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A post shared by Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal)

This isn't the first instance of a CEO going undercover to gain first-hand insights into worker conditions. Earlier this year, OLA Cabs CEO Hemant Bakshi worked as a cab driver to understand customer expectations. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi also once moonlighted as a driver to experience the day-to-day challenges of Uber drivers.