Hyderabad: A couple of weeks after Deccan Chronicle exposed the ‘time scam’ involving food delivery platforms, one of the apps, Swiggy, has changed the way they indicate the time it takes to deliver an order. The food delivery application now gives an approximate delivery time.
For instance, when a customer places an order at 3.30 pm, they will hereafter get a time stamp saying that their food could be delivered tentatively by 4 pm instead of the previous “will be delivered in 30 minutes.” In the previous instance, the messaged would remain the same every few minutes, leaving no way for a customer to gauge or hold the app responsible in case of extreme delays.
In the report published in these columns on June 3, ‘Food delivery apps caught in time scam,’ many customers spoke about their travails after booking their orders and the inordinate delay in the delivery.
According to Pratyusha Bellary, "Earlier, the app used to say that orders would be delivered in 20 minutes. This 20-minute pretext remained even after we failed to get the delivery within the stipulated time. The latest move to give an approximate time makes more sense. Moreover, it is not an emergency service so I don't mind when it's delayed by a few minutes."
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a source at Swiggy, could not confirm if the change was due to customer feedback. However, she agreed that the app does listen to their customers to improve their services.
"Real time information has always been our goal, keeping in mind the demand of the customers while also paying heed to the safety of the delivery executive. So changes to suit both of them are periodically discussed and worked upon," she said.
