Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal responds to ‘false claims just to sound cool’ netizen allegations; Here’s what happened
Zomato's Chief Executive Officer responded to social media user's plea asking for a report on the impact of the company's plastic recycling project. Take a look how CEO Deepinder Goyal gave a four-point response…
Online food delivery platform Zomato's Chief Executive Officer Deepinder Goyal responded on Friday, December 6, to an individual (Rajesh Sawhney) on the social media platform X asking for an auditor's report on the company's “offsets” to understand the impact of the plastic recycling project.
The company chief gave a four-point response to Rajesh Sawhney, citing the ESG Factsheet for the last three financial years, waste management agency data, EV-based deliveries data, and ecosystem of EV players pan-India.
Goyal first cited the assurance letters provided and verified by the company's ESG assurance providers.
“Our international renewable energy certificates (IREC) for Scope 2 emissions, and carbon offset purchases for Scope 1 and Scope 3 emissions have been verified by our ESG assurance providers for three years in a row. These assurance letters are available in the public domain,” said Goyal in his post.
Goyal highlighted that considering the IREC and offset purchases makes Zomato's food delivery business fully carbon neutral.
“You will note that IREC and offset purchases equal Zomato's entire carbon footprint for its food delivery business for three years in a row making our deliveries 100% carbon neutral,” said the CEO.
Since the food-delivery platform launched the plastic-neutral deliveries in the financial year 2022-23, the company has certificates from their authorized waste management agency and recycling partner IPCA for 30,000MT of plastic waste recycled, according to the post on platform X.
However, there was a disclaimer mentioned in Goyal's post stating, “Since our restaurant partners choose their own packaging, this is a completely voluntary initiative on our part to mitigate plastic pollution.”
The company has run multiple programs to encourage restaurant partners to shift towards sustainable packaging options, according to the post on X.
Goyal also focused on the company's aim to achieve “100 per cent EV-based deliveries by 2030 way back in 2021.” Close to one-third of the deliveries in Delhi are already done on EVs, said the executive, who believes this will contribute to the company's commitment to Net Zero by 2033.
Goyal also highlighted the concerns over lagging electric two-wheeler charging infrastructure and financing facilities.
“Today's 2W EV products, charging infrastructure and financing facilities are yet to evolve sufficiently to meet the specific requirements and constraints of our food delivery partners at scale and we are actively working with policymakers, industry bodies and the ecosystem of EV players pan-India to solve for this by our stated timeline,” said Goyal.
Zomato Ltd shares closed 1.17 per cent higher at ₹303 after Friday's market close, compared to ₹299.50 at the previous market session.
What was the netizen's request?
Rajesh Sawhney, via his social media platform X account, requested Zomato's Deepinder Goyal to share an audited report on “Offset” that entitles Zomato to claim “100% Green Deliveries.”
Sawhney's first post came on December 5, when he called out the Zomato for making “false claims just to sound cool.”
To which Goyal responded, “There’s no greenwashing. Public companies like us cannot lie. There are enough public institutions to keep us honest and accountable,” highlighting that the company offset more than 100 per cent of the carbon our delivery fleet generates.
“I would also appreciate if you could share a link or a report for us, shareholders, to understand the impact of your plastic recycling project since you have claimed more than 100% of the plastic used is recycled. I would really like to deep dive. I couldn’t find anything meaningful on the Internet,” said Rajesh Sawhney on December 6.
Sawhney also urged the Zomato Chief to expedite the delivery fleet transition to EV. “I am sure you can see the havoc pollution is causing to the health of people of NCR,” he said in his post on X.
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Business NewsCompaniesNewsZomato CEO Deepinder Goyal responds to ‘false claims just to sound cool’ netizen allegations; Here’s what happened
First Published:7 Dec 2024, 06:34 PM IST
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