Blinkit ambulance service to charge for non-emergency trips
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal announced that emergency ambulance transfers will remain free while routine trips will now cost Rs 2,500.
A Delhi man's account of a Blinkit ambulance arriving within eight minutes to help his grandmother reached Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal, according to India Today. Sparsh Sehgal, an X user from Delhi, said the quick response helped get his grandmother to the emergency ward promptly.
Goyal responded to the post by explaining a change in the service's pricing model. He stated that emergency transfers will continue to be free, but non-emergency transfers will now attract a charge of Rs 2,500 after the trip.
Goyal said the free service had been increasingly used for routine hospital visits and transfers from hospitals to homes. He noted that these trips could often be handled by private transport and kept fully equipped emergency ambulances and paramedics occupied.
The CEO said the Rs 2,500 fee would go to the Eternal Foundation, which operates the ambulances. He added that the charge is intended to reduce the use of ambulances for non-emergency cases so the 10-minute service remains available for life-threatening situations.
Goyal mentioned that the company has served approximately 20,000 emergency cases out of 42,000 total cases over the last two years without charging a fee. He also noted that the team is working to expand the ambulance service to all major Indian cities within the next two to four years.