{"id":1308768,"date":"2026-04-24T09:03:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T03:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/?p=1308768"},"modified":"2026-04-24T09:03:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T03:33:49","slug":"zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"Zomato Will No Longer Penalize Restaurants For Lowering Dine-In Prices"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a significant move for India\u2019s food delivery ecosystem, Zomato<\/strong> has removed a controversial<\/a> pricing clause from its contracts with restaurants after facing strong industry backlash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Zomato<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The clause, which had been part of Zomato\u2019s agreements for years, penalized restaurants for offering lower prices to dine-in customers or through their own delivery channels. Its removal signals a shift toward more flexible and restaurant-friendly policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

What Was the Pricing Clause?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The clause\u2014often referred to as a \u201cprice parity\u201d rule<\/strong>\u2014required restaurants to maintain the same pricing across all platforms, including Zomato, their own outlets, and other delivery channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If violated, Zomato had the right to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Impose fines up to three times the price difference per order<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Conduct \u201cmystery shopping\u201d to check compliance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Although the clause was reportedly never enforced, its presence created concerns among restaurant owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    Why Restaurants Opposed It<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The National Restaurant Association of India<\/strong> and multiple restaurant owners strongly opposed the clause, arguing that it restricted their ability to control pricing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Key concerns included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Loss of pricing autonomy<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Pressure to keep prices artificially high<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Reduced ability to offer discounts to direct customers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Industry leaders emphasized that pricing should remain the restaurant\u2019s decision, not dictated by aggregator platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n\n\n\n

      Legal & Antitrust Concerns<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      The clause also raised red flags among legal experts. Several lawyers and a former antitrust official noted that such pricing restrictions could potentially violate competition laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      They drew parallels to a 2022 antitrust ruling<\/strong> in India, where hotel booking platforms were asked to remove similar price parity clauses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Additionally, Zomato and rival platforms have previously faced scrutiny over practices that allegedly favored certain restaurants and limited fair competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n\n\n\n

      Why Zomato Dropped the Clause<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      While Zomato has not officially commented on the exact reason, the decision appears to be driven by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • Sustained pressure from restaurant associations<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Potential regulatory risks<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Growing scrutiny around competition practices<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        A review of Zomato\u2019s updated policies confirms that the clause has now been removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n\n\n\n

        What This Means for Restaurants & Customers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        The removal of the pricing clause could have several implications:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        For Restaurants<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        • Greater control over pricing strategies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Ability to offer exclusive discounts offline or via own channels<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Improved margins and flexibility<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          For Customers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          • Possible price differences across platforms<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • More direct deals at restaurants<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Increased competition leading to better offers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
            \n\n\n\n

            The Bigger Picture<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

            India\u2019s food delivery market is booming, expected to grow from $94 billion to $153 billion by 2031<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            In such a competitive landscape, balancing platform control with restaurant independence is becoming crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Zomato\u2019s decision reflects a broader shift\u2014where platforms may need to become more collaborative rather than controlling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \n\n\n\n

            A Turning Point for Food Delivery Platforms?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

            This move could set a precedent for the industry, especially for competitors like Swiggy and emerging players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            As regulatory scrutiny increases and restaurants demand more autonomy, the power dynamics between platforms and partners are clearly evolving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            In a significant move for India\u2019s food delivery ecosystem, Zomato has removed a controversial pricing clause from its contracts with restaurants after facing strong industry backlash. The clause, which had been part of Zomato\u2019s agreements for years, penalized restaurants for offering lower prices to dine-in customers or through their own delivery channels. Its removal signals […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":1308772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[671],"class_list":["post-1308768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-zomato"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nZomato Will No Longer Penalize Restaurants For Lowering Dine-In Prices - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zomato Will No Longer Penalize Restaurants For Lowering Dine-In Prices - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a significant move for India\u2019s food delivery ecosystem, Zomato has removed a controversial pricing clause from its contracts with restaurants after facing strong industry backlash. The clause, which had been part of Zomato\u2019s agreements for years, penalized restaurants for offering lower prices to dine-in customers or through their own delivery channels. Its removal signals […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-24T03:33:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-24T03:33:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Zomato-Food-Delivery-1-1280x720-1024x576-1280x720-1-1024x576-1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mohul Ghosh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mohul Ghosh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/\",\"name\":\"Zomato Will No Longer Penalize Restaurants For Lowering Dine-In Prices - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Zomato-Food-Delivery-1-1280x720-1024x576-1280x720-1-1024x576-1.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-24T03:33:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-24T03:33:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5092a7d2906e3f3c819643435477c2a7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Zomato-Food-Delivery-1-1280x720-1024x576-1280x720-1-1024x576-1.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Zomato-Food-Delivery-1-1280x720-1024x576-1280x720-1-1024x576-1.jpeg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":576},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Zomato Will No Longer Penalize Restaurants For Lowering Dine-In Prices\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/\",\"name\":\"Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups\",\"description\":\"Trak.in is a popular Indian Business, Technology, Mobile & Startup blog featuring trending News, views and analytical take on Technology, Business, Finance, Telecom, Mobile, startups & Social Media Space\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5092a7d2906e3f3c819643435477c2a7\",\"name\":\"Mohul Ghosh\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/66c129d83dd3f325a3b550eb1aa16891173ddfc4686361424206cd9a01311c89?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/66c129d83dd3f325a3b550eb1aa16891173ddfc4686361424206cd9a01311c89?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mohul Ghosh\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/author\/mohul-ghosh\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Zomato Will No Longer Penalize Restaurants For Lowering Dine-In Prices - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Zomato Will No Longer Penalize Restaurants For Lowering Dine-In Prices - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups","og_description":"In a significant move for India\u2019s food delivery ecosystem, Zomato has removed a controversial pricing clause from its contracts with restaurants after facing strong industry backlash. The clause, which had been part of Zomato\u2019s agreements for years, penalized restaurants for offering lower prices to dine-in customers or through their own delivery channels. Its removal signals […]","og_url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/","og_site_name":"Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups","article_published_time":"2026-04-24T03:33:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-24T03:33:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Zomato-Food-Delivery-1-1280x720-1024x576-1280x720-1-1024x576-1.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mohul Ghosh","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mohul Ghosh","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/","url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/","name":"Zomato Will No Longer Penalize Restaurants For Lowering Dine-In Prices - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Zomato-Food-Delivery-1-1280x720-1024x576-1280x720-1-1024x576-1.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-04-24T03:33:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-24T03:33:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5092a7d2906e3f3c819643435477c2a7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Zomato-Food-Delivery-1-1280x720-1024x576-1280x720-1-1024x576-1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Zomato-Food-Delivery-1-1280x720-1024x576-1280x720-1-1024x576-1.jpeg","width":1024,"height":576},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/zomato-will-no-longer-penalize-restaurants-for-lowering-dine-in-prices\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Zomato Will No Longer Penalize Restaurants For Lowering Dine-In Prices"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#website","url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/","name":"Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups","description":"Trak.in is a popular Indian Business, Technology, Mobile & Startup blog featuring trending News, views and analytical take on Technology, Business, Finance, Telecom, Mobile, startups & Social Media Space","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5092a7d2906e3f3c819643435477c2a7","name":"Mohul Ghosh","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/66c129d83dd3f325a3b550eb1aa16891173ddfc4686361424206cd9a01311c89?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/66c129d83dd3f325a3b550eb1aa16891173ddfc4686361424206cd9a01311c89?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mohul Ghosh"},"url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/author\/mohul-ghosh\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Zomato-Food-Delivery-1-1280x720-1024x576-1280x720-1-1024x576-1.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1308768"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1308773,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308768\/revisions\/1308773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1308772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1308768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1308768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1308768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}