Zomato once again hikes platform fee to Rs 10 ahead of festive season, says 'It has increased slightly'

Deepinder Goyal-led Zomato has once again hiked its platform fee by 42.86% from Rs 7 to Rs 10 just ahead of the Diwali festival.

According to Zomato, the hike, which it calls "slight," helps the company pay bills and continue operating.

“This fee helps us pay our bills to keep Zomato running. To maintain services during festive season, it has increased slightly,” said a notification on the Zomato app.

The platform fee is an additional charge applied to every food order, separate from GST, restaurant charges, and delivery fees.

Earlier, the Gurugram-based company temporarily hiked the platform fee to Rs 9 on December 31.

The impact of platform fee

The hike in platform fee means that if a customer previously paid Rs 207 for an order, which included a Rs 7 platform fee, they will now pay Rs 210 for the same order. Notably, it is even charged to customers who are subscribed to Zomato Gold.

While the increase may seem small, it has the potential to significantly boost Zomato's financial performance. By March 2024, Zomato had already collected over Rs 83 crore from the platform fee.

This fee has been a key factor in Zomato's impressive 27% year-on-year revenue growth, which reached Rs 7,792 crore in FY24.

When did Zomato introduce the 'Platform fee'?

In August of last year, Zomato introduced a platform fee of Rs 2 to improve its margins and move towards profitability. This fee was later increased to Rs 3, followed by another hike to Rs 4 on January 1, 2024.

In mid-July of this year, the platform fee was increased to Rs 6 in top Indian cities, including Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.

Zomato's financial performance

The hike comes a day after the company reported a staggering 388.9% increase in profit for the second quarter of FY25, posting Rs 176 crore, a sharp rise from Rs 36 crore in the same period last year.

Zomato’s revenue from operations grew by 68.5% year-on-year (YoY), amounting to Rs 4,799 crore in Q2 FY25, up from Rs 2,848 crore in Q2 FY24.