‘Painful to see’: Tadka Rani founder says people are placing, cancelling food orders despite LPG shortage

Amid ongoing concerns over LPG supply and operational disruptions faced by restaurants and cloud kitchens, a food entrepreneur has raised alarm over a surge in last-minute order cancellations on food delivery platform Zomato, warning that the trend is leading to food waste at a time when kitchens are already struggling with limited resources.

Also read: Govt bars households with piped gas from obtaining, refilling LPG; asks them to give up LPG connections

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Gagandeep Singh Sapra, founder of cloud kitchen brand Tadka Rani, said the issue has become particularly visible during the current supply crunch, when restaurants are operating cautiously and often preparing food only after an order is confirmed.

“So painful to see people placing orders, very well knowing there is a major supply shortage, waiting for 5 Mins, and then cancelling it. Food is already being prepared and gets wasted. I think it’s time @zomato kills the cancel option, and does not let people do this,” Sapra wrote in a post on X.

Sapra said that while order cancellations are not unusual in the food delivery business, the pattern he is observing now appears different.

According to him, kitchens are seeing customers place orders, sometimes call the restaurant to push for faster preparation, and then cancel the order just minutes later — often after the cooking process has already begun.

“On a regular day when sales are higher, and the movement is fast, we are able to manage this, but this right now looks intended just like a DOS attack, place order call them for urgency, wait 5 mins and cancel. Most of these are COD Orders so Zomato also does not have an option but to accept cancellation,” he said.

Sapra suggested that the repeated cancellations are beginning to disrupt kitchen operations and may even be deliberate.

“This system is being rigged,” he added.

Describing the situation faced by restaurants during the current supply constraints, Sapra said kitchens now operate carefully because fuel and ingredients cannot be wasted.

“Now Days, you get the order, you power on the Gas whatever limited you have or switch on Induction which takes a slightly higher time to get to speed, put the ingredients and then the buzzer goes, Order cancelled.”

Restaurant operators say such cancellations are particularly difficult to manage when supplies are tight, as food prepared for cancelled orders often cannot be reused.

The issue has surfaced at a time when many restaurants and cloud kitchens are adjusting their operations due to concerns over LPG availability and rising energy costs linked to the ongoing geopolitical tensions in West Asia. Operators say these pressures are forcing kitchens to plan production more carefully, making sudden cancellations more costly than usual.