Over 95% users report packaging or food quality issues with online orders: LocalCircles survey

Hyderabad: Though now food delivery services through aggregator platforms have become ubiquitous, with as much as 75 per cent of respondents of a LocalCircles survey stating to be users of food delivery service apps, the problems with the services are just mounting. The survey stated that as much as 1 per cent use it 10-30 times a month!

Gig workers protest low pay, lack of job security

The recent all-India strike by the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers, in coordination with the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU), has shown the downside to the convenience that these apps provide by delivering food to the doorstep.

Recent gig worker strikes have brought visibility to long-standing issues like low pay, unsafe delivery targets (e.g., 10-minute delivery), unpredictable income and lack of legal protection.

Highlighting the challenges faced by delivery personnel, TGPWU President Shaik Salauddin had said that despite being the backbone of last-mile delivery, especially during festivals and peak seasons, workers are subjected to long working hours, declining incomes, unsafe delivery targets, arbitrary account suspensions, lack of job security and the absence of basic welfare protections.

State govt offering security to gig workers

On the policy front, India’s updated labour codes now formally recognise gig and platform workers and include contributions toward social security funds—offering long-term relief on welfare.

Telangana is among the few Indian states moving toward institutional recognition of gig and platform workers through a dedicated welfare board. The State government announced that it will soon establish a welfare board for platform-based gig workers and introduce a comprehensive policy for their welfare and protection.

Consumers unhappy

Apart from the troubles being faced by gig and platform workers, the situation of consumers of the food delivery apps is not positive either.

Here are some of the main issues facing the consumers of food delivery apps:

1. Inflated prices and hidden charges

According to the LocalCircles survey, 55 per cent of consumers who ordered through food aggregator platforms say food prices on the apps are higher than at the restaurants.

Consumers increasingly complain that food delivery apps inflate prices because high commissions (20–30%+) charged to restaurants are reflected in menu prices seen online, with savings not passed back to customers.

Users also report hidden fees like high packaging or platform charges that make orders cost far more than expected and poor transparency about total costs before checkout.

Additional issues include inaccurate delivery fees, refunds denied for wrong or missing items, and weak customer support responses.

As a possible fix to these inflated prices by ways of making charges transparent, consumers want restaurants to display pickup/dine-in food prices and online food prices on the food aggregator’s platform.

To the LocalCircles survey question, “Should it be mandatory for food aggregators (Swiggy, Zomato, etc.) to enable and for restaurants to display both the in-person pickup/dining food price and online food price on the food aggregator platforms”, an overwhelming 87 per cent responded with “Yes, absolutely”.

2. Sub-standard packing and harmful food ingredients

Users of app food delivery were found to have other concerns besides higher charges. As per the LocalCircles survey, over 95 per cent of respondents had some complaints to share about the quality of packaging and food delivered, leaving them disappointed

Concerns have also been raised about carcinogenic substances in spices and other edible products, the use of harmful substances for preservation and extension of shelf life of packaged food or the recycling of stale products. Some of these instances are reported to have resulted in the death of consumers.

Pradeep Kumar Dutt of the Hotels and Restaurants Association of Telangana State (HRATS) said that it is the responsibility of the State Food Safety Department to ensure the food quality is of the highest standard.

“The association does not do any independent checks. However, we had approached the GHMC commissioner and asked him to consider letting one or two people from the association be on the board of the GHMC committee to ensure quality control is inclusive. But that did not happen,” he said, speaking to NewsMeter.

Regarding ways to make sure that people get quality food when they eat outside, he advised everyone to check if the place they will be eating is qualified, such as having FSSAI accreditation.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, which undertakes regular surveillance, monitoring, inspection and random sampling of food products from manufacturers/sellers, hotels and restaurant, etc., sold online through e-commerce platforms, apart from licensing food businesses, received 21,042 complaints in the last five fiscal years, Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs BL Verma informed the Rajya Sabha last year.

“If the people are cautious, then the supplier will be careful about providing quality food each time,” said Pradeep. Similarly, as much as 56 per cent of the survey respondents indicated they had received damaged, spilled or disfigured food due to poor handling.

In summary, food authorities need to step in to check the quality of food being delivered to consumers’ homes and offices, as poor-quality food holds risk for their health.

It is pointless to set standards for street vendors when even restaurants don’t follow healthy practices and deliver stale or badly packaged food to consumers. Lack of transparency in prices on dine-in, home delivery and online orders is also an unhappy experience for consumers.

There should be a proper mechanism for consumer complaints to be redressed, or no remedial action will be taken by either the food aggregator or the food outlet.

Extent of survey

The LocalCircles survey received over 79,000 responses from consumers in 359 districts of India; 61 per cent of respondents were men, while 3961 per cent were women; 4561 per cent of respondents were from tier 1, 3361 per cent from tier 2, and 2261 per cent of respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts.