Zomato, Blinkit and rivals halt deliveries at Jantar Mantar amid internet shutdown

Zomato, Blinkit, Swiggy, Instamart and Zepto suspended food-delivery and quick-commerce service at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar protest site as internet access and security operations disrupted the area. The platforms had not publicly explained the suspensions.

— Source publishedThu, 23 Jul, 2026, 14:10 IST·First seen Thu, 23 Jul, 2026, 14:54 IST·Source Medianama

What happened

Zomato, Blinkit, Swiggy, Instamart and Zepto halted food-delivery and quick-commerce service at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar protest site amid an internet shutdown and

Key facts

  • Second day of internet shutdown
  • Third day of protests
  • Internet cutoff since at least 8:30 PM on July 21
  • Internet was blocked around 10:45 AM and restored around 10 PM on July 20
  • 16 Delhi Metro stations shut

Why this matters

Potential partners and acquirers should assess delivery platforms’ resilience to internet shutdowns, geofencing capabilities and crisis-response protocols in politically sensitive urban zones.

What to watch

  • Restoration of mobile internet and data connectivity around Jantar Mantar.
  • Police advisories, road closures, metro-access changes, curfew orders, or expansion of the security perimeter.
  • Whether delivery availability returns on Zomato, Blinkit, Swiggy, Instamart, and Zepto within the same day.
  • Order-volume displacement, ETA increases, and cancellation rates in central Delhi neighborhoods bordering the exclusion zone.
  • Reports of rider safety incidents, merchant closures, or platform statements explaining the suspensions.
  • Use of internet shutdowns or delivery restrictions at other protest sites or during subsequent demonstrations.
  • Maintain a narrowly geofenced service suspension around the affected protest and security perimeter.
  • Monitor rider location, route passability, order cancellations, and attempted-order demand in adjacent delivery zones.
  • Shift available riders and inventory capacity toward unaffected nearby clusters to limit ETA deterioration.
  • Use in-app availability messaging and customer-support scripts that cite temporary local operating constraints without speculating on the cause.
  • Reopen in stages after confirming network reliability, rider safety, merchant operability, and access routes.

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