Zepto Delivery Partner Allegedly Molests Woman In Mumbai, Startup Promises Stringent Action

In another incident of crime against women in the country, a delivery partner of quick-commerce startup Zepto was arrested for allegedly molesting a woman in Mumbai earlier this week.

The accused, named Shahzade Sheikh, reportedly recorded the woman’s video while handing over the parcel she had ordered on the Zepto platform. When the woman protested against this act, the accused tried to enter her house and abused her, the police said, as per news agency ANI.

The aggrieved woman shared her experience on social media platforms, raising questions on Zepto’s customer service. As per her statement, she was saved only by the timely presence of her security guard.

An unverified Tweet by the aggrieved woman also alleged that Zepto’s local team tried contacting her asking to “communicate and compromise”. 

Meanwhile, responding to the incident, Zepto said, “The safety of customers is a priority and we take such matters with utmost seriousness. We are partaking in a thorough investigation of the incident with the local law enforcement bodies.” 

“We condemn any such behaviour and will work with authorities to ensure stringent action is taken based on facts,” the startup added.

This incident of sexual harassment by a Zepto delivery partner has once again raised serious questions about the steps the tech-enabled B2C platforms take to ensure customer safety. The incident took place days after a Rapido bike driver was arrested for allegedly raping a female passenger in Bengaluru.

The Bengaluru police informed the media earlier this week that the man, who worked as a bike driver on the ride-hailing platform Rapido, along with his friend raped the 22-year-old woman who was on her way to visit a friend’s house.

In another such incident in September, a Zomato delivery agent allegedly molested a 19-year-old woman after delivering food to her in Pune.

It is pertinent to note that while ride-hailing tech platforms have SOS buttons or options to trigger alerts to a user’s emergency contacts in situations of distress, it is different in the case of the delivery platforms. Ecommerce, quick commerce, and food delivery platforms allow customers to share their experience via ratings and comments after the deliveries are completed or by raising complaints with customer care executives through their help section, which is usually a time-consuming and lengthy process.

Meanwhile, with the rising internet penetration and growing smartphone adoption in India, ecommerce and delivery platforms are aggressively expanding their market as the number of online shoppers is also increasing. As per a Bain & Company and Flipkart report, at least 350 Mn people might be engaged in eretail by 2025.