Ordering food this Onam and Diwali? Zomato slyly raises platform fees by 20%

In another allegedly shady market move, Zomato has quietly lifted its platform fees to Rs 12 from the earlier Rs 10. An additional Rs 2.16 on GST on the platform fee, brings the total cost to customer to Rs 14.16 per order!

The latest 20 per cent jump in platform fees came without any major updates—no notifications to the customer, no social media update (till now), and no regulatory updates, given that parent Eternal is a listed company. In an ideal world, such a move would be regarded as a “dark market pattern”.

THE WEEK team looked at past orders. Till August 27, Zomato orders attracted only a Rs 10 platform fee. Food orders from August 28 showed the updated Rs 12 platform fee.

“I don’t even understand the logic of the ‘platform, fee’. Then what is the delivery fee for?” asked a miffed customer from Kochi ahead of the Onam festival, celebrated from tomorrow through the weekend.

To check this, we looked at the orders of a Zomato Gold member. We added items worth Rs 200 to the cart. The final bill? A staggering Rs 234.66—an increase of almost Rs 35!

Here is how the breakup of the charges goes… Rs 10 on GST (i.e., 5 per cent), Rs 10 for “restaurant packaging charges”, and another 50 paise on the GST on the “restaurant packaging charges”.

And now, the icing on the cake… Rs 12 for the platform fee, and an additional Rs 2.16 on GST on the platform fee. And that makes up the extra Rs 34.66—about three cutting chai’s worth!

“What is the point of taking Zomato Gold?” the customer asked. Well, the Zomato Gold, in this order, helped “save” Rs 42. Currently, in a city like Kochi, ahead of the festive season, the base delivery fee charged by Zomato is Rs 38 per order plus Rs 2 per km. This is because our team checked a restaurant closer —just 2.3km away.

In effect, if a customer did not have Zomato Gold, they would have paid at least Rs 275 on the same Rs 200 order!

And it is not Zomato alone. Its rival Swiggy also allegedly raised its platform fee to Rs 14 in select cities. With the duopoly of two platforms, the only loser in the equation seems to be the consumer. 

With festival season around the corner, starting with Onam and then Navratri, Dussehra, Deepavali (Diwali), and more, it would be prudent for consumers to keep a keen eye on such subtle jumps in “ninja” fees.

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