KOCHI: Unwilling to leave the comfort and warmth of her home during the monsoon the other night, Nivya S (name changed) decided to order food online. Upon opening a food delivery app, Nivya was flabbergasted to find all eateries unavailable on the app. She switched over to another popular delivery app only to receive her food late owing to torrential rain.
With extreme weather conditions replete with an orange alert in the city, a decline in services is expected by food delivery apps such as Uber Eats and Swiggy.
"It is an arduous task to deliver food at this time of the year, regardless of rain gear. The relentless rains along with waterlogged road and potholes make it a gruelling exercise. Also, it is rather difficult to navigate the location during heavy rains. As a result, many of us stay offline or are unwilling to deliver food. The shortage of delivery boys due to bad weather is definitely a reason for shut down," said Manuel (name changed), who delivers for the app which clamped down services two nights ago. Food apps have played a tremendous role in increasing revenue for eateries. With the rains playing truant, won't this affect their sales? "It goes without saying. However, regardless of the demand, it is the app which decides to resume services. We do not have a say in it. However, the rains create an increase in demand as many would not want to venture out," said a staff at a popular cafe in Kochi.
Upon asking the delivery giants themselves, Swiggy responded by saying that they take up the necessary measures and planning required to ensure that their delivery partners are adequately equipped during changing weather conditions. "Our commitment towards providing the best in consumer service has kept our fleet of 1.95 lakh delivery partners across the country operational even during rains. As with every monsoon, Swiggy's operations team is prepared to ensure we remain serviceable to all our users with the help of technology for demand forecasting and the presence of a large delivery fleet on the ground to fulfil orders. We also offer rain gear and resting hubs while incentivising our partners adequately," a spokesperson with Swiggy said.