Swiggy, Zomato banned in Telangana until lockdown: KCR

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister, on April 19th, imposed a ban on online food delivery chains like Zomato, Swiggy from operating in Telangana until the lockdown ends.

While addressing a press conference post the cabinet meeting held on Sunday, the CM said, " Online delivery chains are banned from operating in the state until the lockdown is lifted. The state cabinet took a decision following a case reported in Delhi, where a delivery boy was tested positive and this subsequently lead to 70 people under quarantine'.

However it is to note that, Telangana has reported a similar case. A youngster working at Swiggy (name withheld) food delivery aggregator in the city, was tested positive for COVID-19. The patient’s samples were collected in the first week of April after his father who had been to Markaz, was tested positive.

A senior police officer told NewsMeter, " The boy's father had been to Markaz and returned to Hyderabad on March 18th. After the Chief Minister's order, all those who had been to Delhi were quarantined. The medical reports of this father turned positive, following which the family was moved to quarantine center at Sarojini Devi Hospital. Later the boy tested COVID positive. Inspection revealed that the delivery executive worked from March 18-20 and delivered food to at-least 25 people in Hyderabad city limits, however this was before the test results. The police and GHMC are tracing the contacts of the boy'.

Sources revealed that the youngster, in his mid 20s, belonged to the Nampally area's Laxmi nagar area and was working with Swiggy for more than a year.

In addition to this Swiggy management informed that, the boy hasn’t delivered any orders to any customer since 21st March before lockdown began, 28 days ago has been tested positive for COVID-19 in Hyderabad. 'We are in touch with him and the local authorities to trace anyone he’s come into contact with recently. We are committed to supporting the delivery partner through these difficult times. He and his family members were quarantined as soon as he was detected with COVID-19', the management said in a statement.