Zomato Faces Insolvency Plea From Uniform Supplier Nona Lifestyle

Zomato has landed in troubled waters as B2B apparel manufacturer Nona Lifestyle has moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking restoration of its insolvency plea against the foodtech major.

Nona Lifestyle, one of Zomato’s operational creditors, has moved the Delhi bench of the NCLT against the Deepinder Goyal-led company for alleged non-payment of dues worth over INR 1.64 Cr, Bar and Bench reported.

The matter dates back to 2023, when the petitioner (Nona Lifestyle) inked a deal with Zomato to supply uniforms for its employees and delivery partners, including merchandise, for the ICC World Cup 2023. This was part of the foodtech giant’s World Cup campaign.

In its plea, Nona Lifestyle alleged that Zomato ordered t-shirts, trousers and World Cup jerseys in bulk, repeatedly delayed payments and refused to accept delivery of several items. Zomato is also alleged to have threatened Nona Lifestyle to offer it discounted rates.

It must be noted that Nona Lifestyle had filed an insolvency plea against Zomato last year, but it was dismissed in November 2024 due to non-prosecution. Subsequently, Nona Lifestyle has filed the petition seeking restoration of the previous plea.

A two-judge bench of Ashok Kumar Bharadwaj and Reena Sinha Puri heard the fresh plea yesterday and adjourned the proceedings till April.

Nona Lifestyle argued before the NCLT that it carried out its responsibility by manufacturing, and then, in part, delivering the ordered merchandise to meet the terms of the contract. 

However, Zomato rejected these claims and contended that Nona Lifestyle failed to meet the deadline of deliveries, thus attracting penalties. The foodtech major alleged that Nona Lifestyle “unilaterally” altered the delivery timeline, which caused “substantial reputational and goodwill damage” to the company and jeopardised its World Cup campaign.

The development comes at a time when Zomato is in the process of rebranding to Eternal. Earlier this month, the company received shareholders’ nod to change its name to Eternal. Zomato also plans to change its stock ticker to Eternal, though the brand name and the app will remain unchanged. 

On the financial front, Zomato’s consolidated net profit slumped over 57% to INR 59 Cr in the December quarter of the ongoing fiscal year (Q3 FY25) from INR 138 Cr in the year-ago period. The decline came despite a 64% year-on-year jump in operating revenue to INR 5,405 Cr.

Shares of Zomato were trading 5.42% higher at INR 214.90 apiece on the BSE at 11:55 PM.