The platform fee that started at ₹2 is now ₹17.58. Let that sink in.
When Zomato and Swiggy first introduced the "platform fee" in 2023, they charged ₹2 per order. It was barely noticeable — the kind of charge you'd accept without a second thought because two rupees is genuinely trivial. That's apparently exactly why they started there.
Fast forward to March 2026: Zomato's platform fee is now ₹14.90 per order excluding taxes (approximately ₹17.58 including GST). Swiggy's is ₹17.58 per order inclusive of GST. After three years of incremental hikes — each one small enough to not trigger a mass exodus — both platforms are now charging nearly nine times their original platform fee.
This isn't a delivery charge. This isn't a restaurant markup. This is a fee just for using the app to place an order. On top of delivery charges. On top of surge pricing. On top of GST on the food itself.
How the platform fee became unavoidable
The platform fee is classified as a charge for accessing the food delivery platform — separate from the actual delivery. Indian consumers have accepted it, grumbled about it on Twitter every few months when it increases, and kept ordering. That's the data Zomato and Swiggy are actually looking at when they decide to raise it.
Every time they've raised the platform fee, order volumes have dipped briefly and then recovered. People complained, some deleted the apps in solidarity, some switched to the competitor, and then — weeks later — were back ordering because the alternative is getting on a scooter in Chennai traffic at 9 PM to pick up biryani yourself.
That's the brutal calculus these companies are running. Convenience has a price inelasticity that Zomato and Swiggy have been testing methodically. The question is: what's the breaking point?
The math on your average order
Let's be specific about what a typical food delivery order in Chennai, Bengaluru, or Mumbai actually costs in 2026:
Food: ₹300 (a basic biryani or sandwich from a mid-range restaurant)
Delivery charge: ₹30-50 (varies by distance)
Platform fee: ₹17.58
GST on food: ₹15-30 (depending on restaurant category)
Packaging: ₹10-15 (some restaurants charge this separately)
Total: approximately ₹375-415 for a ₹300 food order. That's a 25-38% markup above the base food price just to get it delivered. The platform fee alone is now nearly 6% of a typical ₹300 order.
For someone ordering twice a week — a very common pattern for Indian young professionals who work from home or have late evenings — that's ₹140-150 per month just in platform fees. ₹1,700 per year. Just platform fees.
Why are they doing this now?
Both Zomato and Swiggy have been under shareholder pressure to demonstrate profitability. The food delivery business model — build market share through subsidized delivery, then gradually extract value once customers are locked in — is now at the extraction phase.
The food delivery market in India is largely duopolistic now. Yes, there are alternatives like Dunzo for certain categories, and direct ordering from some restaurant chains through their own apps, but for general food delivery, most Indian consumers are effectively choosing between Zomato and Swiggy. That duopoly is what enables both platforms to raise fees simultaneously without one gaining significant share from the other.
Rising fuel costs — linked to ongoing global supply constraints — are being cited as a contributing factor too. Delivery partners get a portion of delivery fees, and when fuel costs rise, margins compress. The platform fee hike is partly a way to protect margins without raising the more visible delivery fee line item.
The Zomato Gold and Swiggy One angle
Both platforms offer subscription programs — Zomato Gold and Swiggy One — that wave or reduce delivery fees for subscribers. What they typically don't waive: the platform fee. That's a deliberate design choice. The subscription converts you into a loyal customer by addressing delivery charges (the thing most people complain about loudest), while the platform fee continues climbing regardless of subscription status.
So even Zomato Gold and Swiggy One subscribers are paying the full ₹17.58 platform fee on most orders. The subscription's value proposition gets slightly worse with each platform fee hike, but not dramatically enough to make people unsubscribe — which is again exactly the outcome both companies are optimizing for.
What can you actually do about it?
The honest answer: not much if you want the convenience. But there are partial mitigations:
Order directly where possible. Chains like McDonald's India, Domino's, and KFC have their own delivery apps. Platform fee doesn't apply. The discounts are sometimes better too because they're not paying Zomato/Swiggy commission on those orders.
Batch your orders. If you're going to pay ₹17.58 anyway, make sure you're ordering enough to make it worthwhile. A ₹200 order with ₹17.58 platform fee is a bigger percentage hit than a ₹600 order.
Compare before ordering. On any given order, one platform may have restaurant-specific discounts that offset the platform fee. It's worth checking both before confirming.
Use coupon codes aggressively. Both platforms regularly issue coupon codes through bank partnerships, credit card offers, and directly through the app. Those can offset the fee. Checking your bank's offers (HDFC, SBI, ICICI regularly run Zomato/Swiggy offers) before ordering is worth 30 seconds.
TamilTech's take
The platform fee is a slow boil. Starting at ₹2 and incrementally pushing it to ₹17.58 over three years is textbook price anchoring — each increase is small enough relative to the last that it doesn't feel outrageous individually. But cumulatively, it's a ninefold increase that's added ₹1,700+ in annual costs for regular users who were never explicitly told this fee would keep rising.
The duopoly structure is the underlying problem. If there were meaningful competition — a third platform with serious scale — either Zomato or Swiggy would have hesitated to raise fees this aggressively. But India's food delivery market consolidated faster than regulators moved to address it. Now consumers are largely stuck with two platforms that raise fees simultaneously and count on convenience addiction to limit churn.
Our practical advice: keep ordering if the convenience value is there for you — but be conscious of the full cost. That ₹300 biryani is actually a ₹400 biryani by the time it reaches your door. Budget accordingly, use the alternatives when they make sense, and resist the impulse to order ₹150 worth of food where the fees and charges nearly double the effective price.
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