The police’s post-10 am clampdown, on Saturday, brought food delivery across the twin cities to a grinding halt, leaving both service providers and residents flustered— market leaders Swiggy and Zomato decided to put brakes on their operations in Hyderabad

The police’s post-10 am clampdown, on Saturday, brought food delivery across the twin cities to a grinding halt, leaving both service providers and residents flustered.

So much so that market leaders Swiggy and Zomato decided to put brakes on their operations in Hyderabad, unless further clarification from authorities on the issue.

Incidentally, in the lockdown order issued earlier this month, the state government categorically mentioned that “e-commerce (delivery) of goods and merchandise including food, pharmaceutical, and medical equipment” will be exempted from curbs imposed post the 6 am to 10 am period.

Yet, on Saturday, scores of delivery executives complained of being stopped and fined by the police, while on duty.

“They not only seized my vehicle but also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000. They need to understand that we are out at this time to earn a living. I also showed them the orders I received on my phone and told them that the restaurants are also functioning because the government has not imposed any restrictions on essentials like food but to no avail. The motorcycles of at least 70 delivery executives, in Mehdipatnam alone, were seized,” said Syed Osman, a Zomato employee.

Some like D Prabhakar also complained of being beaten up by traffic cops. “I have been delivering food in the same route since the beginning of the lockdown and no one has stopped us. Today, they beat us up if we even questioned them. We are being punished even though we are operating within the law,” the Swiggy executive said.

Even cloud kitchens operating in the city weren’t spared. “We received information in the morning that we have to shut down all our outlets. When we asked why it was being done, even though the GO allows operation of our services, they said we have to shut down since they are not allowing flood delivery executives to pick up orders from restaurants,” said P Vasu, co-founder of Varalakshmi tiffins and Istah cloud kitchens in the city.

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