One quick thing: Byju’s content manager, business partner face US court sanctions 

In today’s newsletter:

• Swiggy CEO doubts Zepto’s market share claims
• Delivery fee increase coming to Instamart 
• 20 new fintechs secure UPI app licence

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Like school report cards that often miss the full picture, Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety has a different take on the quick commerce race.

In an interview with us, Majety highlighted the challenges of comparing players based on selective, unaudited financials.

• While Majety did not name specific companies, his remarks were widely seen as a reference to Zepto, the only major privately funded quick commerce player in India

Zepto CEO and co-founder Aadit Palicha recently claimed a $2 billion gross order value (GOV), surpassing Swiggy Instamart's $1.6 billion but still trailing Blinkit’s $3 billion. 

• But Majety points out that these numbers don’t always add up without full transparency

His comments are at a time when brokerages like Motilal Oswal, which led Zepto’s recent fundraising, have also suggested that Zepto has overtaken Swiggy Instamart in terms of market position.

Publicly listed companies such as Zomato, which operates Blinkit, and Swiggy are required to disclose their quarterly audited financial results, while private players like Zepto are only obligated to disclose annual filings.

“It is going to be very hard to have a full conversation based on unaudited financials. So, it would be very hard for me to really comment on reports that are flying out there…it is difficult to compare when information is picky,” Majety told us

Find out more

Staying on Swiggy and quick commerce…brace yourself because your grocery orders are going to become more expensive if you’re a Swiggy Instamart user.

Swiggy is looking at ways to improve its take rates, or commissions, on Instamart, the company’s quick commerce division. 

One primary way the company will do this: 

• Eventually hike the delivery fee it collects from customers such as you and me
  

The move comes after Swiggy has seen positive results by implementing and constantly increasing the platform fee on food delivery orders over the past months.

The other ways? 

• Expanding assortment/offerings and monetising ads in a better way, CFO Rahul Bothra told analysts after announcing the company’s results on December 3

To bump up Instamart’s take rates from the current 15% to 20-22%. 

“In the overall delivery fee construct, today there is a certain amount of subsidy that goes into the business…Over time there is expectation to increase the delivery fee,” Bothra said. 

However, we still don’t know when the company will implement this move

• Nor is there clarity on how much the delivery fee will increase by 

• Swiggy Instamart can also go the Blinkit way and collect a delivery fee on all orders, irrespective of size
  
  
• Or it can even tweak how much it currently charges on every order 

Swiggy Instamart’s delivery fee construct is currently similar to what rival Zepto has. Both companies waive off the delivery fee for their loyal users. 

Dig deeper

The UPI payment landscape is heating up! 

• While PhonePe and Google Pay have dominated the market, new challengers are emerging

While PhonePe and Google Pay control a staggering 85% of the UPI market, a new crop of 20 companies received TPAP (third-party application provider) approval in 2024 alone. 

• According to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) website, 40 firms have got TPAP approval since 2016

NPCI, which runs UPI, is hoping that newer players with differentiated products can break the duopoly in the market.

• A few of them focus on issuing Rupay credit cards that can be linked to UPI

• For small merchant payments, UPI scan and pay has been more popular than cards

• Rupay linked to UPI brings card rewards and convenience to the same platform

Also read: UPI Lite: RBI raises limit of wallet to Rs 5,000, per transaction to Rs 1,000

While UPI started as a person-to-person payments, much of the growth over the last three years has been happening in merchant payments.

“We believe that the entire financial services gamut could be reimagined in the context of the UPI. It was a foundational layer for us, which is driving the growth,” says Super.Money founder and CEO Prakash Sikaria.

Today most insurance, mutual funds, IPO, SIPs and other bills happen through UPI.

Dig deeper

• Four Chinese industry associations warn against buying US chips due to security concerns, urging domestic alternatives.
  
  
• Amazon announced a new slate of AI platforms at its annual AWS conference, allowing for text, image and video generation.

Ever wondered how data powers the world around us? 

• From the algorithms that recommend your next Netflix binge to the models predicting the weather, data is the backbone of modern life

Data Skeptic is your passport to this fascinating world.

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