Zomato customer highlights high cost of ordering food online. How company responded

(Image credit: Rahul Kabra/LinkedIn)

A Zomato customer recently took to social media to highlight what he claimed was "cost escalation" by the food delivery platform.

In a LinkedIn post on July 4, a user named Rahul Kabra shared a photo showing that an order that cost Rs 690 on Zomato could be bought for Rs 512 offline.

"Assuming Zomato brings visibility and more orders to the food service provider, should it charge such high price?" he asked. "I think there is a need to cap this cost escalation which should be implemented by the government so as to make this a win-win for all stakeholders."

"Over time, people will come to know of the high cost they are paying for Zomato delivery and eventually skip ordering from Zomato or move to some other substitute," he added.

Many users pointed out to Kabra that he did not consider the cost of travelling to a restaurant to pick up food.

"Also add a value to your time for the travel time, said a LinkedIn user named Gautam Mahtani. "Add a value for the convenience of getting the food at home. And if you have a tip do add that too."

Another user reminded Kabra that customers paid more on Zomato to have food delivered to them in any weather.

"I simply do not think it's acceptable for people to crib and complain about increased prices given the inflation rates in our country -- especially for the delivery drivers. I think it is a fair system."

Zomato responded to Kabra saying it had no control over the prices set by its partner restaurants.

"That said, we have conveyed your feedback to the restaurant partner and have requested them to look into this," the company said.

A LinkedIn user said by charging commission from restaurants, Zomato was inevitably pushing up ordering costs.

"They take 35-50% cut from hotels so hotels increase the prices to compensate, indirectly Zomato is the one who's leading to this increase," they claimed. "Trying to rip its customers off by acting as the good guy, let's see for how long."

"Many hoteliers and restaurant owners they have said that due to charges and t&c (terms and conditions) of Zomato/Swiggy, we either have to increase prices on your platform or decrease the quantity of product," another user wrote.