New Delhi: The online food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy increased the platform fees once again by Rs 6 per order. It was only in April that it hiked the same by Rs 5, a 20 per cent increase, IANS reported.
Currently being charged in Delhi and Bengaluru, the platform fee is different from delivery fee, goods and services tax (GST), restaurant charges, and handling charges.
The higher platform fee will roll out to other cities as well.
The platform fee goes to the food aggregators to apparently control costs and increase revenues.
In April, Zomato hiked its platform fee by 25 per cent to ₹ 5 per order.
Zomato introduced a platform fee of ₹ 2 in August last year and later increased it to ₹ 3 to improve its margins and become profitable.
The food delivery platforms aim to generate ₹ 1.25-1.5 crore a day by levying a platform fee.
In another news from the sector, the Karnataka Consumer Court has mandated food delivery service Zomato to compensate a Dharwad woman, Sheetal, Rs 60,000 for failing to deliver an order of momos placed last year.
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Dharwad announced the decision on July 3.
The incident dates back to August 31, 2023, when Sheetal placed an order for mixed veg momos, paying Rs 133.25 via Google Pay. Despite receiving a confirmation message that her order had been delivered, no delivery agent arrived at her residence, nor did she receive her momos.
Frustrated by the lack of action, Sheetal issued a legal notice to Zomato on September 13, 2023. During court proceedings, Zomato's counsel denied the allegations, labelling them as "false and created." However, the court noted that Zomato failed to respond within the promised 72-hour window, rendering their defence unreliable.