Zomato to cover legal costs of delivery exec held for 'hitting' customer

Bengaluru: While Zomato has temporarily suspended the delivery executive accused of punching a customer in Bengaluru, the food tech unicorn is also covering his legal expenses pertaining to the case, the company's co-founder Deepinder Goyal said on Friday.

Zomato is also covering the medical expenses of the model-turned-makeup artiste who posted a video clip on social media platforms alleging an assault on her by the Zomato delivery executive.

The Bengaluru police on Wednesday arrested the delivery executive, Kamaraj, shortly after Hitesha Chandranee took to Twitter and Instagram accusing him of hitting on her nose, tagging the city police, which asked her to provide the area details.

"We are in constant touch with Hitesha, covering her medical expenses, and helping her with the proceedings," Goyal said in a statement.

"We are also in constant touch with Kamaraj, extending all possible support to make sure both sides of the story come to light and that due process is followed in the spirit of fairness," he added.

Goyal pointed out that Kamaraj had made around 5,000 deliveries for Zomato so far and had 4.75/5 star rating on the platform - which is one of the highest.

"Right from the get-go, our topmost priority has been to get to the truth. Towards that we are helping both Hitesha and Kamaraj (our delivery partner) with all the support they need while the investigation is pending. We are also assisting the police in whichever way asked," he said.

Earlier, Chandranee had posted a video clip on social media, alleging that she was hit by the Zomato delivery executive on Tuesday following an argument over delayed food delivery.

Showing her bleeding nose in the four-minute video clip posted on Instagram and Twitter, Chandranee claimed that the delivery executive had attacked her after she confronted him over the delay in the delivery of her order.