The biggest food delivery platforms in India? Zomato and Swiggy? have increased the platform fee- a tiny fixed amount that is charged for all orders. With the popularity of both these platforms, it is bound to make headlines highlighting the recent 20% hike in platform fees. Now, the majority of the working population in India doesn't expect an annual appraisal of 20% in 2024 and not to forget for many office goers, Swiggy and Zomato mostly take care of their lunch while at work. Of course, it may appear as if we are overreacting but truth be told, there weren't any platform fees in the beginning. While this fee (for barely using the platform) is intentionally kept in single digits, at least for now, it is a publicly known fact that food prices on both these platforms are inflated. 

Coming to the news, over the past few months, both Swiggy and Zomato have increased the platform fee several times. Continuing on that path, Zomato and Swiggy have now hiked the platform fee by 20% in key markets such as Delhi and Bengaluru? two regions with the maximum demand in India. Before the hike, the companies used to charge ?5 as platform fee. 

In few parts of the country, the fee has been increased by Re 1. As per a report by the Economic Times, Swiggy is currently teasing a platform fee of ?7 in Bengaluru, however it is discounted and offered at ?6 during checkouts. To recall, both the food delivery platforms introduced platform fees last year. Initially, it was just ?2 per order.

Platform fees are claimed to be quite essential for the ?survival? of these food delivery startups as they try to improve their ?take rates?. For those who are unaware, take rates determine the amount these platforms make on each order. Both Swiggy and Zomato have been experimenting with platform fees for a while. Earlier this year, Swiggy started showing a ?10 platform fee to a few users, which was a massive jump from the ?3 that it was charging from most users at that time.

Although Swiggy used to reduce the platform fee down to ?5 during checkout, it gave an insight of what the platform might be planning next. Getting higher platform fees from the customers is one of the ways through which the companies are trying to increase their profitability.

A couple of months ago, Zomato increased its platform fee to ?5 per order in key cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Lucknow and the National Capital Region. Not just Swiggy and Zomato but also their quick commerce arms Instamart and Blinkit charge a similar fee called handling charges from customers. Currently, Zomato's Blinkit charges ?4 per order, while Swiggy Instamart gets ?5 per order. As of now, there is now information whether the companies will increase the fee on the quick commerce platforms too.

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