Food delivery company Zomato has announced that it suspended the delivery of non-vegetarian food items in Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan on January 22 as per a government notice. The day marked the inauguration ceremony of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir.
The matter came into light after an X user pointed out that non-vegetarian items were not available for delivery on Zomato. To which, the company’s customer care handle replied, “Hi, we have disabled delivery of non-veg items in Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan as per govt. notice. Hope this clarification helps!”
The decision did not receive a lot of support as other X users pointed out, Zomato’s rival Swiggy had not imposed any such restrictions.
“Indian constitution guarantees freedom to eat whatever and wherever. Public places are understandable, but why can’t individuals eat whatever they want to in their homes? Who are you to tell them? Will definitely file a PIL in court against Zomato,” commented another X user The Indian Socialist (@AndoolanJeevi), while a third user Selvakumar Vaiyapuri (@vpselva) wrote, “Who the hell has the rights to dictate what anyone can eat on each day?”
Ahead of the Ram Mandir ‘pran pratishtha’ ceremony in Ayodhya, restaurateurs in UP had said that they would not supply non-vegetarian food items and refrain from selling alcohol on Monday “as a mark of respect”, the Economic Times reported. Similar announcementswere also made by the state governments of Rajasthan and Haryana.