Aadit Palicha, Clean Your House Before Delivering Ours. Zepto Chased Valuations But Delivering Filth Wrapped In Startup Fantasy!
From the warehouse to the boardroom, from the rider to the retail shelf, the direction is painfully consistent - Zepto is not just failing operationally but also failing ethically. It is trying to sprint to an IPO with broken wheels, alienated partners, angry customers, and exploited workers.
To the young founder (s) at the helm of Zepto is this your vision? Is this what you dreamt of building?
On the surface, it all looks so brilliant, doesn’t it? AI optimized delivery, slick branding, and a unicorn tag that dazzles investors and customers alike. The packaging is sharp, the tech is sleek, and the branding screams innovation; but peel back the layers, and what lies beneath is not disruption – it’s rot.
Why these hard hitting questions (they were bubbling for some time now) but presently have gained more steam, more force basis the recent report detailing the ‘true conditions’ of Zepto warehouses.
So let us start once again and with renewed force!
Where is the accountability – to your customers, your employees, and to your own self? Is this what leadership means to you?
That while frustrated customers shout into voids about missing refunds and shady hidden charges, and your riders risk accidents for paltry pay, you respond with nothing but corporate jargon?
Because that’s what your company has offered so far, it seems. And when confronted with warehouses teeming with fungus-covered fruits and expired groceries strewn on wet, unhygienic floors, Zepto’s official response was:
“We are committed to rectifying the lapses. Food safety and hygiene is non-negotiable”. (Really?)
It took repeated inspections, media exposés, and government regulators to shut Zepto down before the management acknowledged even a fraction of the problem. And even then, chose the comfort of PR spin over genuine contrition.
Zepto raised $1.3 billion. That’s ₹10,000 crore of belief and backing. And yet, your own dark stores couldn not pass a basic hygiene check. Delivery partners are being banned arbitrarily, customers are cheated silently, and your stores smell like neglect. Meanwhile, your burn rate continues to torch hundreds of crores a month. For what?
Zepto’s 10-Minute Delivery Dream, Ha!
Zepto promised convenience at lightning speed but five years after its flashy debut, the brand’s mask of efficiency is slipping, revealing a troubling reality of rotten groceries, worker exploitation, regulatory violations, and customer deception. What began as a startup success story is now a recurring example of how ambition without accountability can rot from within.
Founded by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, two young entrepreneurs who captured the startup world’s imagination, Zepto aimed to redefine grocery shopping with its bold 10-minute delivery promise. Launched in Mumbai, the company raised over $1.3 billion and rapidly became a unicorn. But that promise of lightning-fast, quality deliveries is now buried under growing allegations of unhygienic warehouses, expired goods, mistreated workers, and cheated consumers.
FDA Blow, Fungus, Filth, and Expired Goods in Dharavi. The Reality!
Zepto’s warehouse in Dharavi, Mumbai, was shut down by the Maharashtra Food & Drug Administration (FDA) after officials uncovered a laundry list of violations.
Among the top offenses – Fungal growth on food, expired stock stored with fresh items, damp and unsanitary flooring, and poor temperature control. All food safety protocols appeared to have been ignored in a facility meant to serve thousands.
Joint Commissioner (Food), Mangesh Mane, confirmed that Zepto’s license would remain suspended until all violations were cleared. “The facility will remain shut,” he stated firmly, while hinting at checks in other cities too.
Not Just Mumbai, The Rot is National
Sadly, this is not an isolated incident; in Delhi, a Republic World investigation at Zepto’s Mayur Vihar dark store found groceries stacked inches from open toilets, and riders confessed to regularly delivering spoiled paneer and milk.
However, what is even more shocking (and can be taken as an example of how customers are fooled) when customers complained, riders were blamed and blocked instead of systemic fixes being made.
Apart from rotting food there is much more to the Zepto story – Is Zepto Exploiting the Workers?
Behind Zepto’s vaunted 10-minute delivery timer is a human hustle that is neither quick nor clean. In Hyderabad and beyond, that veneer has cracked horribly. Delivery partners have erupted in protest under the banner of the Telangana Gig Workers’ Union, demanding what should never have required a strike – fair pay, social security, decent hours, and basic dignity.
But Zepto’s version of dignity appears to be laced with bait-and-switch tactics.
Workers claim they were lured from villages with promises of ₹30,000 salaries, free food, and accommodation, only to have their joining bonuses vanish mysteriously, often into the hands of local vendors.
Take-home pay – slashed by nearly half, according to testimonies from the ground. Try raising your voice and one might find app ID permanently blocked.
In the words of one fired rider: “I was yelled at every day. The minute we spoke up, we were replaced.”
The punishment were not limited to just app bans.
During peaceful protests, police rounded up striking riders, and Zepto allegedly responded by cancelling their contracts outright. The union calls it “unlawful union-busting.” Zepto calls it business as usual. Meanwhile, reports accuse the company of offering “special bonuses” to riders who break the strike – essentially weaponizing desperation.
Even more worse are the horror stories of scapegoating.
One delivery partner was blamed and suspended over a complaint of spoiled paneer- when the real issue was warehouse refrigeration. “The milk goes bad, and I get blocked?” he asked. No answers. Just more blocks, more silence.
The harsh truth is that there’s no economic logic to 10-minute delivery that doesn’t involve corner-cutting or people-crushing.
An insider confessed: “The model’s unsustainable. The margins don’t support dignity.” But Zepto isn’t listening. It’s chasing speed and headlines, while the workers who power this machine are crying out, only to be muted or replaced.
From Employees To Hoodwinking Customers
While delivery workers shout in the streets, customers are shouting online and no we are not talking about a few angry tweets – but a digital avalanche!
One user ordered a “grape bowl & papaya cuts” and received what she called “rotten, smelly, inedible garbage.” Another called Zepto’s refund system “a scam with a support team of ghosts.”
Republic World’s roundup of complaints reads like a horror anthology: expired eggs, missing dog treats, nearly-empty perfume bottles, and a 28-minute “10-minute delivery.”
Refunds and replacement orders, refused at the door with a curt “Madam, return nahi karunga.”
What about customer care – vanished after one scripted apology.
And it is not just bad groceries. It’s bad math too.
As users report promotional credits that mysteriously apply only halfway. Bills padded with phantom “rain fees” and packaging charges that weren’t visible before checkout.
One Redditor fumed: “Zepto’s delivery partners mark items as delivered without you even getting them. Zepto shrugs. And still charges you.”
On Reddit’s now-notorious “F*** Zepto” forum – nearly 10,000 strong – users expose hidden fees, fake discounts, and inflated MRPs that shrink like magic at checkout. The community’s motto is to “Hold Zepto accountable.”
It’s become a digital whistleblower haven.
Uncovering Some More Deception. A Masterclass in Dark Patterns
Dark patterns have become Zepto’s signature sauce.
The “F*** Zepto” subreddit has turned into a surveillance system for consumer deception.
—Posts range from GST being added on non-taxable fees to mysteriously vanishing cashback credits.
—Rain fee on sunny days? Check.
—“Item Handling Fee” on items that don’t need handling? Check.
—Convenience fees that are anything but convenient? Checkmate.
But Zepto’s sharpest blade is its “swap and save” scheme, which quietly pushes users to dump D2C brands at checkout for “cheaper alternatives.”
Founders of these small brands have started crying foul. Their claim is that Zepto’s algorithms are designed to bleed indie products dry while favoring mass-volume suppliers.
Big Bucks Raised, With Even Bigger Burns
Zepto’s PR deck is all fireworks – $1.3 billion in funding from titans like SoftBank and Google.
But behind the sparkly numbers lies an inferno, as leaked data suggests that Zepto missed its Q4 FY25 revenue targets for the first time, while burning through ₹500 crore a month. Some whispers say losses peaked at ₹660 crore in January alone. That’s ₹6–7 billion per month going up in smoke.
Zepto Café Falters and Partner Brands Revolt
Even the side hustles aren’t safe. Zepto Café (its 10-minute restaurant delivery experiment) has silently exited dozens of cities.
Officially, it’s a “temporary pause”, but for workers, it’s another dead end.
Cafés that partnered with Zepto under “Swap & Save” now report non-payments and abrupt cancellations. F&B partners say the same thing as FMCG founders: “Zepto doesn’t just squeeze, it bleeds.” Worse, Zepto is allegedly nudging users at checkout to swap from niche food brands to bulk deals – often with zero transparency. So even if your business survives one algorithmic swipe, your margins might not.
The CEO’s “Work-Life Balance” Tweet and Toxic Culture
At the top, tone-deafness seems to be a feature, not a bug.
CEO Aadit Palicha’s infamous tweet – “I recommend work-life balance… to our competitors” – came just days after a Reddit exposé labeled Zepto “India’s most toxic workplace.” The post described endless 15-hour shifts, zero support, and a culture where burnout is a badge of honor.
Therefore, his tweet was not bold; it was blind!
From the warehouse to the boardroom, from the rider to the retail shelf, the feedback is painfully consistent – Zepto – is falling operationally and failing ethically.
And let us not forget its IPO dream – a sprint with broken wheels, alienated partners, angry customers, and exploited workers.
Speed is impressive, sure. But what’s the point of delivering in 10 minutes if you’re burning bridges, trust, and humanity every second along the way?
Zepto claimed to be building the future of quick commerce but if this is the future, then the foundation is built on exploitation, deception, and rot.
So once again –
Is the vision?
Is this the legacy?
