Food delivery giants Zomato Ltd. and Swiggy have hiked the platform fee they levy on each order across key markets, such as Bengaluru, Mumbai and the National Capital Region.
Across the top three hubs for online food ordering, Zomato has raised its platform fee to Rs 6 from Rs 5 earlier. The latest hike comes barely three months after Zomato increased the mandatory platform fee it levies on each order to Rs 5.
Swiggy is teasing a Rs 7 platform fee, which it shows discounted to Rs 5 currently. The platform fee is a flat charge levied by these platforms that is separate from delivery charges, goods and services tax, and other restaurant and handling fees.
Platform fees have been tweaked and hiked multiple times since its introduction last August. It started off with Rs 2and got hiked to Rs 3 shortly thereafter. The company levied a Rs 4 fee as recently as January before hiking it to Rs 5.
During the financial year 2023, Zomato catered about 64.7 crore orders via its platform. A simple Re 1 hike to its fee structure will mean an additional Rs 65 crore to its top line per annum. However, it was not clear if all cities it operates in has seen a hike in the platform fee.
In the March-quarter shareholders' letter, Zomato also attributed the platform fee as one of the major reasons for an improvement in its margins.
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