Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal has committed his ESOPs proceeds worth ₹700 crores (net of taxes) to Zomato Future Foundation (ZFF), according to an internal note sent to Zomato employees.  This will include donations toward the education of up to two children of all Zomato Delivery Partners, special programmes for girl children and higher education scholarships, among other benefits. 

“100 per cent of the proceeds of this ESOP vesting cycle are committed towards ZFF. To reap the most benefit for ZFF, and protect the interests of our shareholders, I do not intend to liquidate these shares immediately, but over the next few years. For the first year, I will liquidate less than 10 per cent of these ESOPs towards this fund,” Goyal said in the note.

He added that ZFF will be open to donations from employees, explore other fundraising opportunities, and to set-up an independent governance board for it.

Zomato Delivery Partners who have been on Zomato’s fleet for more than five years will get up to ₹50,000 per child per annum. This amount will go up to ₹1,00,000 per child per annum, if the delivery partner completes ten years with Zomato. These service thresholds of 5/10 will be lower for Women Delivery Partners. Further, the company plans to have special programmes for girl children and introduce ‘prize money’ if a girl completes the 12th grade, and if she graduates.

The foundation will also offer higher education scholarships for children with higher performance and potential. Educational and livelihood support for the families of all Zomato Delivery Partners will be given in case of accidents while on the job, irrespective of service tenure. 

Delivery partner safety

This announcement comes on the heels of growing concerns around delivery partner safety. In September 2021, the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court, demanding social security benefits for app-based transport and delivery workers.

The PIL stated that the denial of social security to gig workers or platform workers has led to their exploitation, causing violation of Article 21 (Right to Life), Article 14 (equality before law) and Article 23 (prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour) of the Constitution.

Zomato has improved its ratings from 1 in 2020 to 3 in 2021, on the Fairwork India’s annual ratings analysing the working conditions of app-based gig workers in India. Goyal had pledged to “leave no stone unturned” to improve the working conditions of its delivery partners after Zomato was rated lowest on the Fairwork India Ratings in 2020.

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