Gurgaon-based food and grocery delivery company, Zomato, has confirmed that the recent disruptions at its quick-commerce unit, Blinkit, had a revenue impact of less than 1%. In response to a clarification sought by the stock exchanges regarding the recent developments at Blinkit, Zomato stated that the changes were made to address the needs of delivery partners, improve customer experience, and reduce cancellation and order rejection frauds by a few delivery partners in the system.


According to Zomato, changes in the delivery partner payout structure were made to enable better cost control, which was necessary for the company to rein in costs. In the April-June quarter for Blinkit, ICICI Securities had projected a 1% revenue impact as a result of the disruptions, and a 0.15% revenue loss for Zomato on a consolidated basis. The company believes that these disruptions and changes will have no material impact on its operations or financial performance, as the revenue impact is less than 1%.



The strike of Blinkit's delivery executives resulted in the shutdown of around 100 dark stores operated by Blinkit in the Delhi-National Capital Region. The delivery executives went on strike protesting the change in the company's payout structure, claiming that the new system would result in reduced earnings. Blinkit had moved the delivery executives from a fixed Rs 25 (plus Rs 7 during peak hours) per delivery fee to a minimum Rs 15 per delivery fee, with a new distance-based component.


Zomato has stated that most of the stores affected by the strike have now resumed operations after the company shut down some stores for a few days to ensure the safety of employees at stores and delivery partners. The company has not disclosed how much the payouts to delivery partners have been reduced. However, according to reports, payouts have come down to Rs 15 per order with a distance-based fee component, down from a peak of Rs 50 per order last year, which was further reduced to Rs 25.


Meanwhile, Zomato-owned BigBasket, Nexus Venture Partners-backed Zepto, and Swiggy's Instamart saw a surge in orders in the Delhi-NCR after Blinkit's delivery executives went on strike. Daily orders for the three quick-commerce platforms increased by 25-50%, according to company and industry executives.


The brokerage firm, ICICI Securities, had stated that the tweak in the payout structure was needed for Blinkit to increase the delivery radius for its existing dark stores and improve its network coverage with limited capital expenditure spends. The changes made to the delivery partner payout structure are expected to address the needs of delivery partners, improve customer experience, and reduce cancellation and order rejection frauds.




Zomato's shares gained 1.48% to close at Rs 54.14 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Wednesday, while the exchange's benchmark index, the Sensex, closed 0.27% or 159.21 points down. Despite the Blinkit disruptions, the company remains unfazed, as the event does not warrant any disclosure under regulation 30 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015.


Zomato has recently made headlines with its initial public offering (IPO) in July 2021, which was oversubscribed 38 times and raised around $1.3 billion. The company's IPO was considered a major milestone for the Indian startup ecosystem, as it was the first unicorn startup to go public in India. Following the IPO, Zomato has been expanding its presence in the quick-commerce space, with the acquisition of Grofers' India business and the launch of its own quick-commerce platform, Zomato Market