Zepto CEO and co-founder Aadit Palicha has publicly acknowledged that the quick-commerce platform made a mistake by using dark patterns—design choices that mislead or confuse users. In a conversation with Forbes India, the 23-year-old entrepreneur said the company received valid criticism and has since reversed the features that triggered widespread backlash.
Users Flag Hidden Fees and Misleading Pricing
Zepto recently faced heavy criticism on social media, with users reporting issues such as hidden charges, selective pricing, MRP discrepancies and misleading discount displays. The complaints sparked the creation of a Reddit community dedicated to documenting the platform’s alleged unethical practices.
Customers claimed they were charged multiple layered fees, including a “Rain Fee,” GST over additional fees, a ₹10 “Cash Handling Fee,” “Item Handling Cost,” “Convenience Fee,” “Small Cart Fee,” “Processing Fee,” and other add-ons—on top of the regular delivery charges.
‘Much of the Feedback Was Valid’: Palicha
Speaking to Forbes India, Palicha said the company experimented with delivery fees and pricing models but accepted that many of their approaches were not received well.
“I think we ran experiments on delivery fees and pricing—we tried different approaches and figured things out,” he said. “A lot of the feedback on social media and from consumers was valid.”
He clarified that the rollback was voluntary and unrelated to regulatory pressure.
“There wasn’t any regulatory angle. It just wasn’t the right thing for consumers. The feedback was negative, so we rolled it back. Within 45–60 days, we addressed it and moved on.”
Dark Patterns ‘Won’t Happen Again’
Palicha acknowledged that while some issues, like expired products, were overstated, the concerns around dark patterns were legitimate.
“I’ll be candid: It was a mistake. We killed it. It won’t happen again,” he said.
In early November, Zepto removed all handling fees, surge charges, and convenience fees as part of its updated pricing strategy aimed at rebuilding user trust and improving transparency.
