Heavy rain disrupts food delivery and hyperlocal services in Bengaluru

Food delivery operations, dine-in, quick commerce services, and even some ride-hailing apps were partly disrupted on account of heavy downpours in the city. 

Cloud Kitchen platform FreshMenu’s operations in Bengaluru witnessed 30% de-growth today, according to Founder Rashmi Daga. 

Dine-in options also saw muted foot traffic, with business being down as much as 50% during the day, PC Rao, President of Bangalore Hotel Association, told YourStory. 

“While our operations were temporarily affected due to rains, we are trying our best to be serviceable at this time,” a Zomato spokesperson said. 

Major quick commerce platforms including Swiggy’s Instamart, Zepto, and Blinkit saw their services partially disrupted in some pin codes. Platforms operated with heavy rain surge prices, higher minimum order requirements, and with fewer SKUs in some areas.  

“While our operations were temporarily affected in some areas due to rains, our teams on the ground are trying to be operational for our customers,” a Blinkit spokesperson said. 

“Our delivery partners are equipped with raincoats to navigate the weather. As soon as our delivery partners update us about affected routes, we immediately blacklist those temporarily. Also, our proprietary weather stations actively communicate weather forecasts that help us and our delivery partners plan better,” noted the Blinkit spokesperson. 

Flipkart Minutes, Flipkart’s quick commerce arm, was operational with business as usual, according to people familiar with the matter. Its services are currently only available in select pin codes of Bengaluru. 

“Weather has not been kind at Chennai and Bengaluru since yesterday but our last mile is unstoppable,” noted Vikas Sharma, COO at Zepto, in a LinkedIn post. 

"While certain areas in Bengaluru and Chennai were temporarily unserviceable due to heavy rains, we remain committed to serving our users. Our teams are equipped with enhanced safety gear, and we’re taking all necessary precautions to ensure safe and efficient deliveries during this time," he said in a statement

Swiggy declined to comment on the story. 

Yulu, which offers its e-scooters to delivery partners completing orders in a small radius, did not see any material damage to its operation centres and vehicle routes, however, some routes were blocked, people familiar with the matter told YouStory.  

Since the downpour was more spread out throughout the day and there was an existing forecast, centres were prepared for heavy rains, cited the person.

However, there are concerns for delivery partners working during heavy rains. Delivery partners are offered earnings incentives by hyperlocal platforms to keep working during heavy rains, flagged Shaik Salauddin, the National General Secretary and co-founder of the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers. 

Food delivery outlets in Chennai

The situation in Chennai was a lot worse with blockages, power cuts and water logging due to heavy downpours and thunder.

Madras Coffee House, which operates over 80 outlets, clocked only 10% of sales of its regular business, Prasanna Venkatesh, Co-founder Director at Madras Coffee House, told YourStory.

Some of its outlets were also damaged due to water logging and consistent electricity issues.

Chai Kings reported an average 40% drop in its online sales, mainly on account of low rider availability. If rains continue to persist, as the Indian Meteorological Department currently expects, the Chennai-based franchisee fears water might get into some of its outlets by tomorrow, said Jahabar Sadique, Co-founder and CEO at Chai Kings.

(The copy was updated with additional reporting.)