A Bengaluru resident has brought to light what he describes as a "shady practice" and a "dark pattern" within the popular quick commerce app, Zepto, alleging that the platform is surreptitiously adding a "cash handling fee" to orders placed with the cash-on-delivery (COD) option.
Sumukh Rao, who works in the marketing department of Frido, took to X (formerly Twitter) to expose the alleged tactic after a friend noticed her Zepto orders were automatically defaulting to COD instead of her usual online payment method.
According to Rao, Zepto has subtly altered its order screen, changing the default Call-to-Action (CTA) button to "Pay Cash/UPI on delivery" instead of the previously prominent "Pay Online" option. This, he argues, exploits users' muscle memory, leading many to inadvertently select the COD option. "Seems harmless at first, because you would think you just have to pay the delivery executive via UPI instead of paying online. WRONG. This is where the dark pattern starts," he wrote.
The more concerning aspect, Rao highlighted, is the hidden charge associated with this change. "When you place the order with the COD option, Zepto automatically adds Rs 15+GST as 'cash handling fees' that most people wouldn't notice," he stated in his post. Rao further highlighted that this fee is not part of the final invoice viewable before placing the order. Instead, it appears as a "time-limited message that vanishes in a few seconds" only after the order button is hit.
Rao, drawing from his experience in the Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) space, acknowledged the rationale behind COD fees for physical goods shipping, where there's a risk of cancellation or refusal at delivery. However, he vehemently questioned its applicability to a quick commerce app. "But what business does it have on a quick commerce app???" he asked, questioning Zepto's continuous "garbage practices."
The revelation has sparked concern among Zepto users. The post garnered more than five lakh views.
"Is this for real?" asked X user Naresh Silla (@brucewayne_lite). "Like they are charging some amount but not showing that in final invoice? I hope you are wrong here, else this is not just bad practice but kind of illegal."
Rao replied, "It shows up in the invoice after delivery which is fair. It doesn't show up in the pricing summary before you order."
A Zepto customer also came forward to share that she was charged Rs 25 extra for the COD option, which she realised only at the time of delivery. Anmol Jain (@teanmol) shared screenshots of the order, tagged Zepto co-founders Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, and called them out for "cheating customers".
"This is not just deceptive. It's outright cheating. The additional charge is not even mentioned when choosing payment mode. This amounts to a wilful and misleading omission... It's just Rs 25. But it is textbook unfair trade practice, he said.
Another Zepto customer also came forward with the same complaint. "Happened to me as well," said Somya (@Somya_Crazy). "I am so used to clicking the right side button. It ended up as a COD order. And then they added Rs 5 as cash handling fees. It was annoying because I had to pay extra and my security guard takes deliveries and brings them to my home. But in this case, I had to let the delivery boy inside the building because his payment was pending."
Moneycontrol has reached out to Zepto for a response. This story will be updated once they do.
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