Heatwave fallout: Zomato shares drop on appeal to avoid ordering food in peak afternoon hours

Taking to X (formerly Twitter) on June 2, Zomato wrote, "Pls avoid ordering during peak afternoon unless absolutely necessary (sic)."

Some social media users appreciated Zomato's humane approach, while others criticised the platform.

"Why don't instead suspend your services during peak afternoon?" a person said. Another tweeted, "A food delivery app is avoiding delivery. Not a good idea though; instead, you should focus on how a delivery partner can avoid heat stroke."

"Is it even real? Though I appreciate the concern, lunchtime orders cannot be postponed to dinner time. If so, Zomato needs to identify "absolutely necessary" orders and not-so-necessary orders," a third user said.

A fourth person suggested Zomato to "close down the services” between 12 noon and 4 pm. “It's okay to be human sometimes before profits. Yeah, we won't order, but still, closure from you will do more good."

IMD issues heatwave alert

The food aggregator's request comes as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned about heatwave conditions in most parts of the country on Monday, June 3.

"Heatwave conditions are very likely in isolated pockets of Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi, Jammu division, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh and Odisha on June 3," the weather bulletin said.

Meanwhile, shares of Zomato were trading 1.1% lower at ₹177 on the National Stock Exchange. Its market capitalisation stood at ₹1.56 lakh crore.

The scrip was down 0.9% to ₹177 on the BSE.