Zomato set to share customer data with restaurants

Zomato is close to reaching an agreement with the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) to share customer data with restaurants, potentially ending a dispute that has lasted nearly ten years.

The NRAI, which represents about 500,000 restaurants in India, is also in similar talks with Swiggy, Zomato’s main rival.

Zomato has begun rolling out a feature that asks customers for consent to share their phone numbers with restaurants for ad purposes.

NRAI recently reached a similar data-sharing agreement with Rapido’s Ownly.

The NRAI previously filed a complaint with the Competition Commission of India (CCI), alleging that food delivery platforms masked customer data and engaged in anti-competitive practices.

The case remains under review by the CCI.

The report said Zomato had about 327,000 active restaurants on its platform during July–September, while Swiggy had about 264,000.

🔗 Source: The Economic Times

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Zomato phone sharing may stop before order history

Zomato will share customer phone numbers with consent 1, not purchase history or spend data used for segmentation and loyalty.
Restaurants struggled to spot frequent buyers across online and offline channels 1, which hurt targeting and muddled first timers vs loyal patrons.
The National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) called this a “significant win” 1, but the payoff depends on whether frequency and basket size appear with contact info, still unconfirmed.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) probe into Zomato and Swiggy over anti competitive practices is ongoing 2. Regulators are examining issues beyond contact sharing.
Blinkit is Zomato’s rapid delivery unit. The Blinkit-led private label Bistro still looks like an edge for the Zomato group 2, since it may tap platform analytics while partners get only opt in numbers.

Messaging vendors can capture restaurant demand for compliant customer outreach

Once restaurants receive phone numbers, they need Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) compliant tools for promotions 3, including DLT registered Short Message Service (SMS) and consent management.
WhatsApp Business Application Programming Interface (API) providers can package consent workflows, so eateries can turn Zomato phone data into compliant campaigns without hiring compliance staff.
Restaurant Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms can stand out with integrations that sync Zomato contacts while keeping audit trails for regulators under India’s evolving data protection framework.
About 500,000 NRAI member restaurants form a tight market for these vendors, and Swiggy may follow with similar sharing 2 4, which would lift demand across both apps.