In a viral post on “I have heard of a Zomato loophole which is so simple, terrifying, and something Zomato should be losing sleep over,” the post began.

Explaining the hack, the user wrote, “A person orders 1 roti on Zomato – Rs 40. Then he calls the restaurant directly for 6 rotis, paneer butter masala, malai chaap, dal makhani, gulab jamun, and pays them via UPI.”

He then described the trick: “(He then) tells the restaurant to pack everything along with that 1 roti for the Zomato order.”

Elaborating further, the user added, “The Zomato rider picks it up and delivers it home, with no clue that Rs 1,200 worth of food is riding along with a Rs 40 order. He’s using Zomato’s app, Zomato’s rider, and Zomato’s entire logistics network, while paying zero commission on 90% of his bill. It’s cheaper than booking directly from Porter or the restaurant.”

The post continued, “The restaurant loves it – full margin, no 25-30% Zomato cut. The customer loves it – no platform fee, no surge, no GST on the hidden portion. Zomato? Quietly subsidizing the entire operation.” The user further added, “And here’s the part nobody’s talking about – this isn’t one rogue customer. Restaurants are in on it. They may be whispering this tip to regulars to keep them off the app.”

As a warning to Zomato, the user wrote, “If this spreads, the unit economics of food delivery don’t just dip; they bleed from the inside. Zomato needs to plug this loophole. This is an exploitation of the system. Zomato must do something to stop this. Have you seen this happening in your area?”

The post went viral, with many users admitting to having tried this ‘loophole’ themselves.

One

Another commented, “As a former restaurant owner, good. Zomato bleeds restaurants dry. Their business model is very exploitative.”

One user questioned, “What if the rider eats the food except the roti?”

Another admitted, “This has been happening for quite some time. Even I tried it once.”

One user added, “I do this with a couple of restaurants myself. My friend owns a restaurant, and we order like this.”

Another commented, “Yes, I own a restaurant, and some customers do this.”