Zomato brings back Gold. Tussle with restaurants restarts.

Zomato Gold is a periodic subscription based membership, whereby the subscribing customers get significant discounts and free deliveries from the member restaurants. Initially, it was mainly available on offline eating. However, later Zomato extended it to deliveries and that’s when member restaurants put up a significant protest because of which the scheme was altogether stopped … Read more

Hotels, restaurants can’t force consumers to pay service charge, orders CCPA

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) on Monday barred hotels and restaurants from levying service charge automatically or by default in bills. It will be completely up to the customers to pay any amount as tip and eateries cannot directly or indirectly levy any charge more than the rate of food items. “Hotels, restaurants can’t … Read more

Airbnb permanently bans parties at its rental locations

Airbnb is making permanent its ban on parties at homes listed on the site for short-term rentals. The San Francisco company believes the ban has worked, saying Tuesday that reports of parties at listed properties have dropped 44% from a year ago. More than 6,600 guests were suspended last year for related violations, Airbnb said. … Read more

Airbnb allows employees to live and work from anywhere

Airbnb will allow its employees to live and work almost anywhere around the world, fully embracing a remote work policy to attract staff and ensure flexibility. The San Francisco short-term-stay company said late Thursday that under the new policy, employees can work from the office, home or during their travels to 190 countries. Staff will … Read more

CCI orders to investigate Zomato, Swiggy over neutrality

The order comes months after the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) asked the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to investigate the companies for breaching platform neutrality by providing priority to the exclusive contractors. Key points to note – NRAI represents more than 5,00,000 restaurants across India. Other than complaints about platform neutrality, complaint by … Read more

Zomato invests into a Kitchen Equipment Start-up. Segment seems interesting.

Zomato has announced fresh investment into Mukunda Foods Private Limited (MFPL). Key points to note: MFPL, founded in 2012 is into the design & development of automated kitchen food equipment. It’s current product portfolio includes – deep fryers, rice/ noodle/ pasta maker, chinese food, dosa maker and grilling machine. It’s products are more technologically advanced, … Read more

Budget FY23: Covid-hit hospitality sector demands infra status for hotels

With the fresh wave of COVID-19 plunging the hospitality sector back into uncertainty, industry body HAI on Monday said it has asked the government to consider granting infrastructure status to hotels, extend moratorium on loans and rationalise taxes. In its pre-Budget memorandum, the Hotel Association of India (HAI) said policy interventions are imperative for the … Read more