Last year, food delivery companies Swiggy and Zomato introduced platform fees starting as low as Rs 2. However, their decision to increase these fees has already started to frustrate customers. Deepak Shenoy, the CEO of Bengaluru-based company Capitalmind, has acknowledged that he has reduced his use of Swiggy and Zomato due to the higher charges.
Mr Shenoy on X wrote, "Massively reduced ordering from Swiggy/Zomato, down to just once maybe on a weekend, like today and noticed their 'platform' charge is now Rs 6. Happy that I weaned myself off the daily ordering. They also take 30 percent from restaurants, btw."
Mr Shenoy shared that he used to order lunch and dinner for his family around 12 times a week. He revealed that it has gone down to either once a week or once in two weeks. "Moved to a much healthier home-cooked alternative," the founder-CEO said.
See the viral post here:
He further shared that it wasn't just the convenience of ordering food online. The platform fee charged by the companies "has gone up considerably". "Many restaurants offer lower prices if you order direct, and for larger orders the difference is substantial," he said.
Reacting to Mr Shenoy's post, a user commented, "Just realised that the prices are padded up as well.... realised that every dish was marked in their app at prices that were much higher. The dish was priced at Rs 295 on the restaurant menu and Rs 365 on Zomato...Have deleted Zomato and Swiggy both as padding was evident in both. Have taken a decision with the entire family - eating out will now mean going out and eating at a restaurant. No more calling food in. That's that."
"30% is only for orders. They now take much more because now they pit ads (sponsored listings) and promotions etc which also cost the restaurants or they lose out on a lot of orders," another user wrote.
"Same. Online food ordering is going to be the bane of the young and tailwinds for pharma and healthcare," the third user wrote.
