In the digital kitchens of India, the secrets of diners may finally be shared.
Zomato is inching toward a breakthrough and is on the verge of ending nearly a decade of friction with restaurants. The food delivery giant is in final talks with the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) to share customer data, a move that Swiggy is also exploring. With customer consent on the horizon, eateries could soon access insights on ordering habits, enabling smarter marketing—while aggregators aim to balance transparency, privacy, and control.
The associations president, Sagar Daryani, confirmed that NRAI is also having similar discussions with Swiggy as well.
Zomato’s New Feature and Data-Sharing Push
A new feature is being rolled out by Zomato that would allow customers to provide consent for sharing their phone numbers with restaurants, which would then enable them to directly receive marketing and promotional updates.
The move comes amid a long-standing dispute between food delivery platforms and the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI), which had approached the Competition Commission of India (CCI), accusing aggregators of engaging in “anti-competitive practices such as data masking.” The matter is still under review.
NRAI President, Daryani said “It’s crucial for restaurants to understand their customers—not to spam them, but to study ordering habits and optimize marketing efforts”.
Concurrently, this move happens to coincide with urban mobility start-up Rapido’s new food delivery service, Ownly, signing an agreement with NRAI to share customer data with restaurants.
In the past, such attempts have been rejected and dejected by the users, which in turn prompted only limited data sharing. A senior executive at a food delivery platform said that “This time, we are working closely with restaurants to ensure the scope of shared data is clearly defined and responsibly used”.
The Wider Dispute and Market Context
Representing half a million eateries across India, NRAI, has consistently raised concerns over issues such as steep commissions, which have risen from 5–7% to nearly 35%, deep discounting, and masked customer data.
Access to information such as order values, cuisine preferences, and city-specific trends has been a epicentre of fallout between restaurants and aggregators.
A senior executive at a global quick-service chain noted, “Swiggy and Zomato have masked consumer data for a very long time. Access to this information is essential for customizing offers and optimizing consumer engagement.”
Earlier this year, NRAI also raised objections with the CCI regarding Zomato and Swiggy’s standalone apps for ultra-fast, 10-minute deliveries, which it argued constituted private-label operations.
As per a Bernstein report, India’s food delivery market reached $10 billion in FY25, up 15% from the previous year. While the total food service market was estimated at $70 billion, the 2 leading players, Zomato and Swiggy accounted for $8 billion in gross order value and other players contributing $2 billion.
Zomato had 327,000 average monthly active restaurants on its network during July–September, while Swiggy had 264,000, highlighting the growing penetration and influence of aggregators in India’s dining ecosystem.
With data poised to flow from aggregator to eatery, restaurants may finally glimpse the appetites of their patrons—turning data into dishes, and insight into actionable connections.
Summary
Zomato is rolling out a feature allowing customers to share phone numbers with restaurants, ending years of friction with NRAI over masked data. Swiggy is exploring similar talks. With consent-driven access, eateries can analyze ordering habits for smarter marketing. The move comes amid rising commissions, regulatory scrutiny, and a $10-billion food delivery market, signaling a shift toward transparency and actionable insights.
