August 16, 2025

Swiggy has turned up the heat in the food delivery game by increasing its platform fee from Rs 12 to Rs 14 in some busy areas. This fee, which you pay every time you order food, now helps Swiggy manage its costs better during times when orders flood in. The Rs 14 charge includes GST. This change was quietly rolled out on a Friday for pockets where orders are surging. Don’t worry, Swiggy plans to reduce this fee back once the rush chills out. Compared to Zomato, which charges Rs 10 excluding GST, Swiggy’s new fee is a bit higher but still a small part of the Rs 500-600 average order. Swiggy first introduced a small platform fee of just Rs 2 in April 2023, then raised it steadily to Rs 12. Now it adds Rs 2 more to keep its books healthier. Why? Because Swiggy’s losses have shot up dramatically. In the April-June quarter, their net loss doubled to a whopping Rs 1,197 crore! These losses mainly come from big investments in Instamart, their grocery delivery arm. Despite these losses, Swiggy’s earnings grew too. It earned Rs 4,961 crore in operating revenue, a solid 54% jump. Swiggy is trying hard to balance growth and profitability. In the meantime, a new challenger, Ownly, launched by ride-service giant Rapido, is entering the food delivery battlefield. Ownly operates in Bangalore areas like Koramangala, HSR, and BTM Layout and offers lower commissions to restaurants (8-15%), undercutting Swiggy and Zomato’s 16-30% cut. Could this spice up the competition further? Swiggy did not respond to questions from ET by the time this story was published. But one thing’s clear: the food delivery scene is sizzling with action, and platforms are tweaking their fees and strategies to stay ahead in this cutthroat race.

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Tags: Swiggy, Platform fee, Food delivery, Losses, Zomato, Instamart,