Zomato is a platform that offers a lot—whether you’re a customer, a restaurant owner, or a delivery partner. But assuming everything is perfect would be absolutely wrong. Recently, a restaurant owner partnered with Zomato to expand his cloud kitchen, only to later reveal the darker side of operating on the platform. His post quickly caught the attention of Zomato prompting a response from them.
Restaurant owner partnered with Zomato calls out cloud kitchen struggles
A restaurant owner named Aditya recently took to X to share the challenges he faced while running a cloud kitchen through Zomato. In one continuous paragraph, he laid out his entire complaint. He wrote,
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“Reality of Opening a Cloud Kitchen on @zomato @deepigoyal Scaming people and filling pockets – 35% Comission, 34% Discount 100% funded by Restaurant, 38% Ad campaigns else no Visibility. Customer Support unresponsive? 6 wk Payout not Settled. Wrst experience as a restaurant owner.”
His words highlighted the financial pressure, dependency on ads, lack of support, and payout delays that he believes many small restaurant owners deal with behind the scenes.
To show that his concerns were not just statements, Aditya attached screenshots from his Zomato partner dashboard. These screenshots displayed payout periods like “27 Oct – 02 Nov’25,” “03 – 09 Nov’25,” “10 – 16 Nov’25,” “17 – 23 Nov’25,” and “24 – 30 Nov’25.” In every screenshot, the net payout was Rs 0.00, and the status consistently read “TO BE PAID.”
Despite receiving dozens of orders each week, no payouts appeared to have been cleared – matching exactly what he mentioned in his post about a six-week pending payout.
Have a look at the whole tweet
Reality of Opening a Cloud Kitchen on @zomato @deepigoyal Scaming people and filling pockets – 35% Comission, 34% Discount 100% funded by Restaurant, 38% Ad campaigns else no Visibility. Customer Support unresponsive? 6 wk Payout not Settled. Wrst experience as a restaurant owner pic.twitter.com/PT62raoknC
— Crypto V (@the_adityajad78) December 3, 2025
Here is how Zomato responded
Soon after Aditya’s detailed post went public, Zomato stepped in with a response from its official support handle. The platform wrote,
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“Hey Aditya, we are here for you! Please DM us your restaurant ID so we can connect with you regarding this.”
Hey Aditya, we are here for you! Please DM us your restaurant ID so we can connect with you regarding this. https://t.co/jcTFuGT2Se
— Zomato Care (@zomatocare) December 3, 2025
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Their reply suggested a willingness to look into the matter directly, especially with the screenshots and claims being made public.
However, the situation highlighted a much deeper problem faced by many small restaurant owners. Even with a steady flow of orders, pending payouts can create serious financial strain. Cloud kitchens operate on tight margins and depend on timely payments for essentials like ingredients, staff salaries, packaging, utilities, and rent.
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When platforms delay payouts for weeks, it disrupts the entire cash flow cycle. Aditya’s screenshots clearly reflected how difficult it can become when the orders keep coming, but the money simply doesn’t reach the kitchen.
What are your thoughts on the problems faced by such restaurant owners associated with Zomato? Have you hear similar stories like this? Do share via the comments below.
