Platform price creeps up once more as Zomato and Swiggy check the market’s value sensitivity

India’s two dominant meals supply platforms have raised their per-order platform price inside days of one another. That is the most recent in a sequence of value will increase which have lifted the cost almost nine-fold because it was launched three years in the past. 

Days after Zomato raised its platform price by 19%, rival Swiggy adopted with a 17% improve, taking its per-order cost to Rs 17.58 from Rs 14.99. Zomato, for its half, elevated its price from Rs 12.5 to Rs 14.9 per order.

Whereas the hikes seem modest in absolute phrases, each corporations now successfully cost an analogous price, round Rs 17.58 per order, as soon as taxes are accounted for. Swiggy’s price is inclusive of GST, whereas Zomato’s levy is excluding taxes.

The platform price is a hard and fast cost added on high of supply prices and taxes. It has developed from a nominal add-on right into a core monetisation instrument. Each corporations launched the price in 2023 at simply Rs 2 per order. Since then, it has been raised in regular increments.

The rise implies a broader shift in technique. With development in meals supply anticipated to be average, corporations are turning to incremental pricing adjustments to enhance unit economics, somewhat than relying solely on commissions from eating places or supply fees.

The hikes come as each corporations face strain to reveal a reputable path to sustained profitability. Development in India’s food-delivery market, which expanded quickly throughout and after the pandemic, is anticipated to be average going ahead. This has pushed each platforms to wring extra income from current orders somewhat than increasing their consumer bases aggressively.

Bengaluru-headquartered Swiggy reported a 54% year-on-year rise in working income to Rs 6,148 crore within the third quarter of fiscal yr 2026. However losses additionally widened to Rs 1,056 crore, underscoring how rather more the corporate wants to enhance its value construction.

Gurugram-based Zomato operates below the mother or father entity Everlasting. Its food-delivery phase grew 29% to Rs 2,676 crore in the identical quarter. On the group stage, Everlasting reported a income of Rs 16,315 crore and a web revenue of Rs 102 crore.

How far can the 2 corporations push platform price earlier than customers start to withstand? India is among the many world’s most price-sensitive client markets, and food-delivery platforms have at instances misjudged client tolerance for greater fees. Up to now, the incremental strategy seems to have minimised churn.

Platform price now sits alongside restaurant commissions and promoting income as a structural pillar of the enterprise mannequin, one which requires no extra logistics funding and improves with each order positioned.

The massive query looms. In a market the place development within the core meals supply enterprise is anticipated to decelerate, can platform price alone bridge the hole between promise and revenue? Or will clients, nudged one rupee at a time, ultimately determine that cooking is cheaper in spite of everything?