Zomato Introduces Feature That Allows Customers To Give Tip To Restaurant's Cook & Staff

Zomato launches 'Tip of the kitchen staff' feature. File Photo

New Delhi: The food delivery startup Zomato announced that it is launching a new feature ‘Tips for the kitchen staff’ on the app that allows customers to appreciate the Kitchen staff for the food every time they order.  The feature aims to encourage people behind the food such as the chef and staff apart from the restaurant and motivate them to bring more creative, delicious and hygienic food.

“The introduction of ‘Tips for the kitchen staff’ feature enables the customers to seamlessly express gratitude for their food deliveries, an option that was limited to traditional dining-in experience until now,” Zomato wrote in the blog.

At how many ways does a customer give the tip to the kitchen staff?

Zomato stated that Customers are asked if they would like to tip the restaurant’s kitchen staff after they have rated their order 4 or 5 starts. Moreover, customers can give the tip to the restaurant kitchen staff from the live order tracking page after placing the order.

Zomato added that there’s an option in the platform to tip in % ranging from 3% to 10% of your item value, given the similarity to a service charge in terms of % on the platform.

I'm super proud to introduce this new feature on the @zomato app - 'Tips for Kitchen Staff'.

Now you can show your appreciation for the chef and staff who helped cook your meal - and goes without saying, 100% of the tip amount goes to the restaurant partners for distribution…

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) September 21, 2023

Netizens question about accountability as tip goes to restaurants

It seems as a voluntary program where Zomato would urge restaurants to take a pledge for distributing the entire tip amount among the staff.

Zomato said the entire tip given by the customers is credited to restaurants (after any tax deductions, if applicable). It then will be distributed among their staff. Zomato clarified that it doesn’t keep any commissions out of the tip amount.

A few netizens have questioned about the credibility and accountability of the restaurants that they would distribute the entire amount to their staff. One user asked about the accountability metric that would show that the tip actually went to the kitchen staff and not gobbled up by the restaurant.