In order to capitalize the increased demand during the festive season, the online food delivery leader Zomato has raised its platform fee from ₹10 to ₹12 per order reportedly.
How Did This Happen?
This hike appears modest at first glance but it is a strategic move to enhance per-order profitability and strengthen the company’s overall financial performance.
Zomato is not alone in this as its rival Swiggy has also increased its platform fee by ₹2, raising it to ₹14 per order, amid the approaching festive rush.
Here mentioned, platform fee is charged by both Zomato and Swiggy and it is an extra cost applied to each order, in addition to delivery fees, GST, and restaurant charges.
Initially platform fee was introduced by Zomato during April 2023 at just ₹2 per order. Later on the fee has gradually risen over the past two years, now reaching ₹12.
Minor Fee Hike Drives A Major Revenue Boost
So far, Zomato is processing approximately 2.3 to 2.5 million orders per day.
This raise in platform fee now brings in up to ₹3 crore in daily revenue, up from around ₹2.5 crore when the fee was ₹10.
It appears that this ₹2 increase translates to an additional quarterly income of up to ₹45 crore.
Though a ₹2 increase might appear insignificant to users, its compounding effect significantly boosts Zomato’s financial health, thanks to the massive volume of daily orders.
Why Would This Happen?
Basically, this increase in fee is being interpreted as a festive-season strategy, with indications that Zomato could roll back the fee to ₹10 once the surge in demand eases.
So far, Eternal, Zomato’s parent company, has not released any comment to the media.
Before implementing this, both of these platforms, Zomato and its rival Swiggy, tested these higher platform fees during periods of peak demand.
Considering the order volumes, if they remain steady then these platforms often retain the increased charges over the long term.
Zomato’s recent Monetisation Measures and Financial Performance Overview
Zomato has been rolling out besides the platform fees, an additional monetisation measures in an attempt to explore new revenue streams.
These food aggregators have already experimented with rain surcharges during bad weather.
They have recently executed a ₹50 ‘VIP Mode’ in select locations, providing faster deliveries, priority riders, and a concierge-style service for premium customers.
This is unlike subscription services like Swiggy One, this particular feature enables Zomato to generate additional revenue with each individual order.
Besides this, Zomato has also introduced a ‘long distance fee’ for restaurants on orders delivered beyond four kilometres, a move that has reportedly faced backlash from smaller eateries, as per a media report.
It appears that the food aggregators monetisation measures are a part of Zomato’s strategy to improve its financial performance amid rising losses.
This move seems to have been primarily fueled by increased investments in its quick commerce arm, Blinkit.
Eternal Ltd (formerly Zomato) reported a 90% year-on-year decline in profit after tax (PAT) for Q1 FY26 on July 21.
The company has posted ₹25 crore compared to ₹253 crore in the same period last year.
Contrary to this, the company’s revenue from operations saw a significant increase, rising 70.4% YoY to ₹7,167 crore in Q1, up from ₹4,206 crore a year earlier.
Operations revenue stood at ₹5,833 crore in the previous quarter.
These strategic developments highlight how Zomato and Swiggy are intensifying their focus on monetisation and operational efficiency considering the arrival of the festival season.
The food aggregator is also testing its premium offerings which are aimed at extracting greater value from their most frequent users.
