Netizens also ask whether it was treating Halal as default mode of meat for Indians
Desk: Online grocery retailer BigBasket, one of India’s largest, has come under fire from netizens for allegedly pricing Jhatka chicken more than double the cost of halal chicken and treating halal chicken as the default mode of eating for Indians.
Journalist Abhijit Majumder tweeted BigBasket asking for an explanation as to why the price of Jhatka meat is more than double the price of halal meat, and whether it was to discourage customers from buying it.
The screenshot attached to his tweet showed the price of 250gm of Jhatka chicken as Rs.159, while the price of 500gm chicken without specified as Jhatka was Rs.129.
Abhijit also questioned why Jhatka meat was labeled as such, while halal was not specified, asking if BigBasket was implying that halal is the normal version in India.
He asked: “Are you saying halal is the normal version in India?”
Abhijit’s tweet sparked a debate on Twitter among netizens over the pricing and other issues relating to halal and Jhatka versions of meat.
His tweet evoked several interesting responses from several other netizens, who proposed various theories for this. Some even justified it by linking it to a supply-demand mechanism. However, others, and Abhijit himself, dismissed it saying that the difference was more than double.
While some netizens justified the pricing discrepancy by linking it to a supply-demand mechanism, Abhijit and others pointed out that the difference was more than double.
The Twitter handle of BigBasket responded to Abhijit’s tweet with an automated message, inviting further ridicule from netizens.
One netizen, Noyon Jyoti Parasar, questioned how taking Abhijit’s contact details would help in this case, and suggested that BigBasket should release a statement on the discrepancy and correct it.
The pricing of Jhatka and halal meat has become a hot topic of discussion on social media, with many calling for greater transparency from retailers like BigBasket.
The company has yet to release a statement on the matter.
