A Reddit user has alleged that Zepto, an e-commerce platform, has been overcharging customers who own smartphones worth more than Rs 30,000. The user also claimed that Zepto uses dark patterns in its app to manipulate customers into spending more money through various methods.
Additionally, the user claims that Zepto profiles customer data and maintains poor security measures for those profiles. Despite several data leaks, the company reportedly did not address the issue due to growth priorities and investor demands.
“The app has a lot of dark patterns to extort money from customers in various ways, including higher fees for customers with phones worth more than 30,000 rupees,” said anonymous user Scary_Split3157 in a Reddit post.
According to the employee’s report, there are concerns about customer data profiling and inadequate security measures. Despite a small, in the future]addressing these issues is a low priority due to the focus on growth and investor demands.
Zepto Work Life Balance
A recent post by Zepto CEO Aadit Polichi about “work-life balance” sparked a debate online. Some segments of the internet mistakenly believed this was a direct response to a viral Reddit post accusing Zepto of “toxic practices” such as late-night meetings. A Reddit post shared anonymously on r/StartUpIndia is titled “Zepto’s Toxic Work Culture.”
A Zepto employee shared in a post that they have been working at Zepto for a year, describing the work environment as a very negative culture. Recalling issues related to irregular working hours and dubious business tactics. The employee explained that Aadit Policha usually starts work at 2:00 p.m. due to the difficulty of waking up early, which results in meetings being scheduled at 2:00 a.m.
In addition, the report highlighted that meetings at Zepto are often delayed and rarely start on time, causing inconvenience to employees. It was also mentioned that younger staff are being recruited as older staff may not want to work in such conditions and younger staff have to work long shifts averaging at least 14 hours a day.
The employee also criticized the Zepto app for implementing unethical strategies to get more money from customers, including overcharging for phones worth more than R30,000.
Explaining why younger professionals are being brought on board, the person said: “Younger staff are being recruited to reduce wage costs and there are significant redundancies expected in March, leading to a hiring freeze in many departments.” The employee further explained that despite these troubling practices, many employees remain with Zepto due to the possibility of an IPO within the next two years, which could potentially lead to financial benefits for all involved.
After the post went viral, Aadit Policha said in an X-post on December 4: “I have nothing against work-life balance. In fact, I recommend him to all our competitors.”
Work-life balance and work life
Top managers also discussed the topic of work-life balance. Narayan Murthy, co-founder of Infosys, first commented on work-life balance, suggesting that young Indian professionals work 70 hours a week to accelerate the country’s rising standard of living. His comments sparked an online debate about life and work.
In a recent statement, Rishad Premji, executive chairman of Wipro, emphasized the importance of work-life balance and highlighted the effectiveness of the hybrid work model in helping employees manage it better.
Premji said: “Work-life balance is very important. I learned this very early, before Covid, which is that work life is something you have to define for yourself. Organizations will never work on that for you. So you have to define what that means and draw the lines.”
