Food delivery majors Zomato (now Eternal) and Swiggy have both removed the surge fee waiver during rains for their loyalty programme users, according to in-app updates.
The move essentially means customers who are enrolled under Zomato Gold and Swiggy One – the respective loyalty membership plans of these companies – will also have to pay an additional amount for their deliveries when it rains in their area.
Earlier, the fee was only applicable to all non-members and members (Zomato Gold and Swiggy One users) were exempt from paying any additional amount.
However, according to the latest update, Zomato Gold members/Swiggy One users will be treated on par with non-members and made to pay an additional amount for food deliveries, despite them paying an additional enrolment fee for the loyalty programme.
Swiggy and Zomato did not immediately reply to Moneycontrol’s queries.
The move comes at a time when Zomato and Swiggy are both under immense investor pressure to improve their profit profile.
Eternal, which runs Zomato, reported a 78 percent year-on-year (YoY) decline in quarterly profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 39 crore in the fourth quarter (Q4) of financial year 2024-25 (FY25), down from Rs 175 crore in the same period a year ago. It had reported a PAT of Rs 59 crore in Q3FY25.
Swiggy, on the other hand, saw its net losses widen further. The company reported a net loss of Rs 1,081.18 crore for the fourth quarter of financial year 2025. This marks a rise of over 94 percent from the Rs 554.77 crore net loss reported in Q4FY24.
To be sure, the drag in the bottom line was largely because of investments in quick commerce for both Zomato and Swiggy. The two companies have a profitable food delivery business which is funding the losses arising from quick commerce.
Now, both the firms are striving to earn more from food delivery – their cash cow – so their quick commerce business can flourish.
5X increase in platform fee
Over the past months, Swiggy and Zomato have both been toying with new ideas to earn more on each order. This includes a platform fee which was as little as Rs 2 per order but has been consistently increased over the past months and has now climbed to Rs 10 in most cases.
While these may seem nominal, both companies deliver over 2 million food orders each day and Rs 10 on each order will result in an additional income of at least Rs 2 crore each day for each company.
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