Blinkit Ambulance is no longer entirely free! Deepinder Goyal introduces Rs 2,500 charge; check which services remain free

Zomato and Eternal founder Deepinder Goyal has announced a new pricing structure for Blinkit Ambulance services, under which non-emergency transfers will cost Rs 2,500, while emergency ambulance services will continue to be free. In a post on social media platform X, Goyal said the decision was aimed at ensuring that fully equipped ambulances and trained paramedics remain available for people facing medical emergencies. He said Blinkit Ambulance had handled around 42,000 cases over the last two years, including nearly 20,000 emergency cases, without charging patients.

"I started Zomato with a spirit of service. Blinkit Ambulance is what that spirit of service looks like today," Goyal wrote.

Blinkit Ambulance: Why is Rs 2,500 being charged for non-emergency trips?

Explaining the reason behind the change, Goyal said the free service had increasingly been used for routine check-ups, hospital visits and transfers from hospitals to homes.


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He pointed out that such journeys could often be managed through private transport or ride-hailing services, while their bookings kept emergency ambulances occupied.

"With everything free, a growing share of bookings are for routine checkups, hospital visits and hospital-to-home transfers, trips that an Uber or private transport could have handled just as easily. Every such booking keeps a fully equipped emergency ambulance with paramedics off the road when someone's life may depend on it," he said.

Under the revised structure, emergency transfers will remain free of charge, while non-emergency transfers will attract a fee of Rs 2,500, payable after the trip.

Goyal said the amount was broadly in line with the charges levied by private ambulance operators. The money collected will go to the Eternal Foundation, which operates the ambulance service and will use the funds to expand its operations.

"We hope that this charge will dramatically drop the usage of our Ambulances for non-emergency cases," he added.

Blinkit Ambulance handled 42,000 cases in two years

Sharing figures on the service's operations, Goyal said Blinkit Ambulance had handled approximately 42,000 cases over the past two years, of which around 20,000 were emergencies.

He emphasised that the 10-minute ambulance service had the potential to save thousands of lives, making it important to ensure that vehicles remained available for critical situations.

"10-minute ambulances have saved and can save thousands of lives, and we need to keep them available for emergencies that need them the most," he said.

Blinkit plans to expand ambulance service to major Indian cities

Goyal also highlighted the challenges involved in expanding the ambulance network, identifying the availability of trained and empathetic paramedics as the biggest bottleneck.

He said the company's training academy was expanding as quickly as possible without compromising on the quality of training.

Goyal added that Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa and his team were committed to taking the ambulance service to all major Indian cities over the next two to four years.

"Scaling high quality ambulances is hard. The biggest bottleneck is trained, empathic paramedics. Our training academy is scaling as fast as we can without compromising on quality," he wrote.

Concluding his post, Goyal expressed hope that people would not have to use the service, while acknowledging a recent emergency in which the ambulance team had reached a patient in time.

He also wished a speedy recovery to the grandmother of X user Sparsh Sehgal, thanking the team for being able to reach her on time.