Zomato to Begin Food Deliveries in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru Next Week

Zomato CEO and Founder Deepinder Goyal said on Wednesday that the firm is on track to commence its food ordering and home delivery services from next week.

In a 'ask me anything' session on popular Internet community Reddit, Goyal said the services will initially be offered in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, with other cities following very soon.

Of course, Goyal's announcement during the AMA is not really a surprise, as he had last month confirmed a March 16 launch of food ordering and home delivery service in India, with 2,000 restaurant partners.

The launch of food ordering/ delivery service will put Zomato in direct competition with Foodpanda, which is the big player in the space, having also acquired the India operations of JustEat and TastyKhana. Taken together, Foodpanda, Just Eat and TastyKhana are present in over 200 cities in India, and partner with over 2,000 restaurants.

(Also see: Can Zomato Eat FoodPanda's Lunch in India?)

Zomato has been testing deliveries with its staff internally, and has promised that it will roll out the service internationally soon. The firm compares its delivery system to Uber for food, and says it will charge its commission from restaurants based on the rating they receive from customers. A good customer review will mean a smaller commission, while a poor review could see the cut go up to 15 percent as a penalty to the restaurant because the consumer had a 'bad Zomato experience.'

Zomato rolled out cashless restaurant payments in Dubai in February, and the firm says it will bring this functionality to India as soon as the requirement for two-factor authentication for small payments is removed, as that will allow for one-touch payments