Swiggy said it does not take any such requests into consideration.
An unusual request by a Hyderabad customer on an app-based food delivery platform has triggered outrage on social media, with many slamming them for bigotry. In their instructions to the restaurant through Swiggy, the customer said they don't want a Muslim delivery person.
Shaik Salauddin, head of an organisation of workers employed in the gig economy, shared the screenshot of the Swiggy order and urged the platform to take a stand against it. We are here to deliver food to one and all, be it Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, he said.
"Dear @Swiggy please take a stand against such a bigoted request. We (Delivery workers) are here to deliver food to one and all, be it Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh @Swiggy @TGPWU Mazhab Nahi Sikhata Aapas Mein Bair Rakhna," he tweeted.
Among those who expressed outrage was Karti Chidambaram, Congress MP from Karnataka.
"Platform companies cannot sit back and watch as gig workers face such blatant bigotry in the name of religion. What action will such companies take to safeguard the rights of gig workers?" he tweeted while tagging Swiggy.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra said it was "sickening to see normalisation of hatred & bigotry". In a tweet, she asked Swiggy to "blacklist customer, make name public & also file police complaint".
Responding to Ms Moitra, Swiggy claimed it's an equal opportunity platform and "there is no place for discrimination in Swiggy's delivery universe". The popular food delivery platform stressed that the assignment of orders is entirely automated and does not take any such requests into consideration. "We've been attempting to validate the authenticity and recency of the screenshot to get more information since the incident was first reported a few days ago," it said.
Several such incidents have been reported in the past.
In 2019, app-based food delivery service Zomato had earned praise online for taking a stand after a man cancelled his order because the delivery person was from a different religion.
"Food doesn't have a religion. It is a religion," the company had tweeted in response to the customer's request for change of the rider.
Backing Zomato's stand, the company's founder tweeted from his personal account that they aren't sorry to lose any business that comes in the way of their values.
"We are proud of the idea of India - and the diversity of our esteemed customers and partners. We aren't sorry to lose any business that comes in the way of our values," he had tweeted.
There have been several public debates about the role of app-based platforms and how far their responsibilities extend. Several commentators feel such platforms can't abdicate responsibilities by dissociating themselves from businesses and users, claiming only to be an intermediary.