Zomato reinstates employee fired over 'national language' remark

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As online food delivery major Zomato faced flak over the national language issue, the company issued a clarification after a Tamil Nadu customer was told that 'Hindi is the national language'.

The company founder Deepinder Goyal tweeted saying they are reinstating the person underscoring that the "level of tolerance and chill" needs to be much higher in the country.

Goyal added that the company did not sack the customer service agent. "We are reinstating the agent -- this alone is not something she should have been fired for. This is easily something she can learn and do better about going forward," Goyal wrote.

A Zomato user named Vikash on October 18 tweeted with screenshots that his order was missing an item and he was unable to get a refund due to a linguistic problem. Post that, the micro-blogging site was flooded with people criticising the company for forcing the language on customers.

"An ignorant mistake by someone in a support centre of a food delivery company became a national issue. The level of tolerance and chill in our country needs to be way higher than it is nowadays. Who's to be blamed here?" CEO Deepinder Goyal wrote.

The customer service representative with whom the user communicated told him that she is attempting to obtain a refund but that there is a "language barrier."

In response, Vikash stated that since Zomato is available in Tamil Nadu, they should have engaged people who are fluent in the language.

The CEO mentioned that we should all tolerate each other's imperfections. And appreciate each other's language and regional sentiments.

Goyal also said that the company's call centre agents are young people, who are at the start of their learning curves and careers. They are not experts on languages and regional sentiments.

He emphasised that Zomato loves Tamil Nadu just as much as they love the rest of the country.

"Tamil Nadu -- we love you. Just as much as we love the rest of the country. Not more, not less. We are all the same, as much as we are different," he said.

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