Food-delivery company Zomato has hiked the platform fee to Rs 14.90 from Rs 12.50 or 19 per cent per order. This means a hike of Rs 2.40 per order.
This revised platform fee will take effect today, i.e., on March 20th. It’s worth noting that this increase comes amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has affected the supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and crude oil. Consequently, the government has halted the supply of commercial LPG cylinders to domestic customers and increased the supply of domestic cylinders.
Zomato’s platform fee has increased by Rs 2.40, which is in addition to the restaurant’s food price, delivery, and GST charges. This increase will burn a hole in the pockets of online food-ordering enthusiasts, who will now have to pay more.
Zomato sees food delivery regain growth momentum
Meanwhile, Zomato’s food delivery business regained growth momentum in the October-December period after a period of slower expansion, on strong order volumes led by festive demand, affordability-focused offerings and expanding user bases.
The company posted 16.6 per cent year-on-year net order value (NOV) growth at Rs 9,846 crore in the December quarter, translating into 21.3 per cent growth in GOV.
This marked an acceleration from 13.8 per cent growth in the September quarter.
Its average monthly transacting users grew 21 per cent year-on-year to 24.9 million during the December quarter. Executives also said the growth was increasingly coming from smaller cities as affordability-led offerings resonated strongly with consumers in tier-II and III markets.
Eternal partners with OpenAI
Recently, food delivery firm Eternal expanded strategic collaboration with OpenAI to enhance artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities across its businesses, including Zomato, Blinkit, District and Hyperpure, along with its partner platforms and internal systems.
The collaboration, which also covers Eternal’s Feeding India initiative and AI-native venture – Nugget, will focus on AI deployments across Eternal’s apps, and underscores the growing role of AI in India’s digital commerce sector.
