Restaurant owners in Namakkal have stopped receiving food orders from online food delivery companies like Swiggy and Zomato, now they have shifted to a new online food delivery aggregator, Zarooz, which only takes subscriptions from eateries on a monthly basis.
From July 1, owners of eateries in Namakkal city and taluk stopped providing food to Swiggy and Zomato, claiming that they were demanding earnings through high commissions and hidden charges, due to which restaurant owners had to increase the price of food.
Screengrab of Zaros mobile application. Photo Credit: Google Play
Restaurant owners have not accepted orders from Swiggy or Zomato for the last one week. Meanwhile, restaurant owners on Monday (July 7, 2025) announced that they will deliver food through a new online food delivery aggregator, Zarooz, which is run by an entrepreneur in Chidambaram, Cuddalore district. Food distribution started after performing puja at Namakkal Anjaneyar temple.
Zaros’ subscription model
Namakkal Town and Taluk Hotel Owners Association secretary N. Arul Murugan said the new company receives monthly subscriptions only from messes, bakeries and restaurants in Namakkal town. Messes and bakeries will have to pay ₹1,500 plus 18% GST every month and restaurants will have to pay ₹3,000 plus 18% GST to the company every month.
Restaurant owners in Namakkal started delivering food through Zarooz, a new online food delivery aggregator, on July 7, 2025. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
At present, 50 restaurants have joined this new online food delivery platform and have started delivering food through it. Earlier, eateries used to pay ₹20,000 to ₹30,000 as commission every month to other major online food delivery aggregators like Swiggy and Zomato. “Now, we are able to save 90% of the money. If a restaurant pays ₹3,000 plus GST to the new aggregator, it will deliver food without any limit. Since they also deliver groceries, meat and other items online, they are able to deliver food at this subscription cost,” Mr Arul said.
enthusiastic response
Saying there was good response to the new aggregator among the public, Mr Arul Murugan said 3,000 people downloaded Zarooz’s mobile application on the first day on Monday afternoon and 100 deliveries were made by noon.
Food prices decreased
“We have planned to expand this local app to other places in the district. Restaurant owners from Tiruchengode and Rasipuram have also agreed to join this app and talks are going on with other restaurant owners in the district. Due to cost reduction for us, we have reduced the price of food. Earlier, due to the commission problem, two idlis were sold at ₹45 to ₹50. But from Monday, restaurants in Namakkal town have started selling it at the actual rate of ₹30. Similarly, all the food prices, which had increased earlier, were also reduced,” said Mr. Arul Murugan.
