Chicken in paneer biryani: Pune man says 'religious sentiments hurt', Zomato responds

A Pune man claimed to have found a piece of chicken in a plate of paneer biryani he ordered from the online food delivery app Zomato, adding that his “religious sentiments were hurt”. Zomato replied promptly to Pankaj Shukla's post on X (formerly Twitter), which featured a photo and a video of the biryani. 

In the post, Shukla, a vegetarian, said he received a full refund for his order but had still decided to write it. 

“ordered paneer biryani from pk biryani house karve nagar pune maharashtra and I found a chicken piece in it(I am a vegetarian) I already got refund but this os still a sin since I am a religious person and it has hurt my religious sentiments,” his post read.

Zomato’s official customer care account responded to his post saying that they would “never compromise with anyone's sentiments”. They also asked him to share details of his order so that they could investigate the matter.

Also read: Non-veg thali turns costly in April as broiler chicken prices rise

“Hi Pankaj, our highest priority is to ensure that we never compromise with anyone's sentiments. Please share your order ID or registered phone number via DM so that we can get this checked,” the comment read.

However, Netizens were not very pleased with Zomato's reply and one user commented: “Vegetarians don't even touch that when they realise it is chicken. Looks like you got a leg piece, ate it and left some crumbs to take a pic.”

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“Buy only from pure veg ones. Never buy anything from veg-non veg combined eatery. Simple as that!” one user commented. 

“If you are so much religious why you ordered from non veg restaurants. Suggestion always order from veg restaurant if you are so much religious,” another user added.

Also read: Have 75% veg orders, the decision for 'pure veg' fleet came after survey, says Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal

Zomato had recently launched a "pure veg" fleet, which was soon rolled back after it was criticised. 

Company's founder-CEO Deepinder Goyal, in a recent interview, explained why it launched the "pure veg" fleet and said the move was prompted by market research, with a majority of the 1,600 respondents expressing a preference for veg-only options, citing spiritual reasons rather than caste or religion.