As GCC opens lounge, Zomato shuts facility for workers; activists slam corpn's priorities

WEEKS after Greater Chennai Corporation launched the first of its air-conditioned lounges in Anna Nagar for gig workers, intended mainly for use by those working with food delivery apps, Zomato has closed down its 'resting point' operating roughly just 250 metres away for the last one year.

- PRAVEENA SA & NIMISHA PRADEEP @Chennai

The closure has raised concerns over the choice of locations and the funding pattern involved in setting up these lounges by the GCC.

"When we asked our supervisors, they said now that the corporation's AC lounge is operational, they decided to close the resting point because it was expensive to maintain them," a delivery executive in the area told TNIE.

An employee in a supervisory role in Zomato for a region in Chennai, however, denied charges that its Anna Nagar resting point has been closed for good.

He said the closure was to establish another point with a bigger space in a different location.

Zomato has been operating resting points at two locations in GCC limits - Anna Nagar and Velachery.

Interestingly, GCC has now initiated plans to set up one in Velachery.

Last week, GCC floated tenders to set up two air-conditioned lounges in Velachery and KK Nagar with a capital expenditure of ₹50 lakh from its own kitty.