A Bengaluru man has claimed that a hike in Zomato's charges, including its platform fee, has made him stop using the app completely. As a customer who used to order food frequently using the delivery app, he has ordered "absolutely nothing" in the last two weeks, Sumukh Rao claimed.
The assistant editor of a technical publication further shared that until recently he was offered free delivery from one of the restaurants that he often buys from, now, however, Zomato requires a delivery fee of Rs 115.
"Zomato decreasing the distance for free delivery to 7 km and now increasing the platform fee to Rs 6 per order has done wonders for both my health and wallet," Rao wrote on X. "I used to order food rather frequently, but absolutely nothing from the past two weeks. Thanks, Zomato!"
In a separate tweet, Rao shared the price break-up of a recent order from Zomato and said, "I used to get free delivery from this restaurant before. Now it's Rs 115. That's the cost of a whole new dish. If that doesn't hurt you, you either don't care about your finances, or you're ultra-rich."
Several users on X appeared to agree with Rao. His post also received more than 13,000 likes.
"Yes, I've gone down from 10K a month to under 2K a month. It's not about money being lost. It's about the feeling of being price-gouged that rankles," wrote Jay Prashanth (@JayPrashanth). Another X user Tushar Bhargava (@btushar) commented, "Same here. Already inflated prices from restaurants on these platforms and now platform fee, distance fee, rain fee, surge fee, and all other stupid charges.
'Massively reduced ordering from Swiggy/Zomato': Capitalmind CEO
Last week, Deepak Shenoy, the CEO of Bengaluru-based company Capitalmind, admitted that he has reduced ordering food from Swiggy and Zomato because of how much the platforms have been charging.
"Massively reduced ordering from Swiggy/Zomato, down to just once maybe on a weekend, like today and noticed their 'platform' charge is now Rs 6. Happy that I weaned myself off the daily ordering," he wrote on X. "They also take 30 percent from restaurants, btw."
Shenoy said he used to order lunch and dinner for his family around 12 times a week. That has gone down to either once a week or once in two weeks. "Moved to a much healthier home-cooked alternative," he added.
20 percent hike in platform fees
Food-delivery majors Swiggy and Zomato hiked their platform fees in July. Customers now have to pay Rs 6 an order on both the apps, a 20 percent increase from Rs 5 earlier.
The fee, being charged in Bengaluru and Delhi to begin with, is different from delivery fee, goods and services tax, restaurant charges, and handling charges. It is charged on all food orders, even if the customer is enrolled under the various loyalty/membership programmes run by the companies. The fee directly goes to the company, which helps control costs and shore up revenues.
The higher fee will likely be rolled out across the country gradually.
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