A Reddit user claimed that Zepto, a quick commerce platform, was overcharging customers who own smartphones valued at more than Rs 30,000. The user also claimed that Zepto employs dark patterns in its application to manipulate customers into spending more money through various methods.
Furthermore, the user alleges that Zepto profiles customer data and maintains poor security measures for these profiles. Despite multiple data leaks, the company has reportedly not addressed this issue due to prioritizing growth and investor demands.
“There are a lot of dark patterns in the app to extract money from customers in multiple ways including charging more for customers with phones more than Rs 30,000,” said the anonymous user named Scary_Split3157 in the Reddit post.
According to the employee’s post, there are concerns about the profiling of customer data and inadequate security measures. Despite numerous data breaches, addressing these issues is given low priority due to focus on growth and investor demands.
Zepto’s work-life balance
A recent post by Zepto CEO, Aadit Palicha, regarding “work-life balance” has sparked a debate online. Some segments of the internet mistakenly believed it was a direct response to a viral Reddit post accusing Zepto of “toxic practices,” such as late-night meetings. The Reddit post, shared anonymously on r/StartUpIndia, is titled “Toxic Work Culture ft. Zepto.”
The Zepto employee shared in the post that they have been employed by Zepto for a year, describing the work environment as having a highly negative culture. Mentioning issues encompassing irregular work hours and questionable business tactics. The employee explained that Aadit Palicha typically begins working at 2pm due to difficulty waking up early, resulting in meetings being scheduled for 2am.
Additionally, the post highlighted that meetings at Zepto are frequently delayed and rarely start on time, causing inconvenience for employees. It was also mentioned that young staff members are hired as senior employees may be reluctant to work in such an environment, with junior staff expected to work long shifts, averaging at least 14 hours daily.
Furthermore, the employee criticized Zepto’s app for implementing unethical strategies to extract more money from customers, including overcharging those with phones valued at over Rs 30,000.
Explaining why young professionals are being brought on board, the individual said: “Junior employees are being recruited to reduce salary costs, and a significant number of layoffs are expected in March, resulting in a freeze on hiring across many departments.” The employee further explained that despite these concerning practices, many staff members remain at Zepto due to the possibility of an IPO within the next two years, which could potentially lead to financial gains for all involved.
After the post went viral, Aadit Palicha said in an X post on December 4: “I have nothing against work-life balance. In fact, I recommend it to all our competitors”.
Work-life balance and working life
The topic of work-life balance has been discussed by top business executives as well. Narayan Murthy, the cofounder of Infosys, first commented on work-life balance by proposing that young Indian professionals should work 70-hour weeks to accelerate the improvement of living standards in the country. His comments sparked an online debate on life and work.
In a recent statement, Rishad Premji, executive chairman of Wipro, emphasized the significance of work-life balance and highlighted the effectiveness of a hybrid working model in helping employees better manage it.
Premji said, “Work-life balance is incredibly important. I learnt this very early on in my early days before Covid, which is work life is something that you have to define for yourself. Organisations are never going to work at it for you. So you have to define what it means and draw boundaries.”