🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

The platform fee now drives revenue, not a small add-on

• Platform fees bring in meaningful revenue, with Rs 89 crore for Zomato and Rs 109 crore for Swiggy in one quarter of FY26 1.
• The approach took shape as food delivery growth slowed and other income streams, including restaurant commissions, hit a ceiling around 30% to 35% 1.
• The charge started at Rs 2 and now sits at the center of the model, meant to lift unit economics (profitability per order) as user growth cools 2.
• Fee increases support a wider effort to improve unit economics and spell out a believable route to profitability, with Zomato under parent entity Eternal while Swiggy remains loss-making 2.

The higher fee pressures loyalty and leaves room for challengers

• The bet rests on how much price-sensitive Indian consumers will pay for convenience before cutting back on order frequency 2.
• Steady price increases give low-cost rivals room to move, including ONDC-based platforms, apps built on India’s Open Network for Digital Commerce, or ONDC, a government-backed network meant to reduce platform fees, plus Rapido Ownly, a newer food-delivery offering from ride-hailing company Rapido 1.
• Pushing charges too far can strain the two-sided marketplace, the balance between consumer demand and restaurant participation, since restaurants already face high costs for commissions and advertising visibility 1.
• Analysts say demand has held up so far, with incremental hikes not yet causing a sharp drop in ordering 3.