- Swiggy has started charging customers a Rs 2 platform fee for food orders.
- It is currently applied only in two cities — Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
- The new charge comes amid Swiggy reporting losses, and conducting layoffs.
Food delivery platforms have surely made our lives easier but they do come at an extra cost. Now it’s become even costlier to order from Swiggy as they’ve started charging an additional fee for every order. Swiggy is calling this a platform fee of Rs 2 and customers are not happy at all with the extra charge.
The Rs 2 platform fee is applicable on every food delivery order made on Swiggy. It is not applicable on Instamart orders though, so you can still order groceries without having to pay the platform fee. Swiggy has so far rolled out the platform to only two cities — Bengaluru and Hyderabad. There’s no word on whether it plans to expand the platform fee to other cities, but in all likelihood, it would.
“The platform fee is a nominal flat fee charged on food orders. This fee helps us operate and improve our platform and enhance app features to deliver a seamless app experience,” a Swiggy spokesperson was quoted as saying by Inc42.
Swiggy extra fee: customers not happy
It looks like the platform fee is here to stay and seeing how Swiggy has implemented it in two metro cities, the company might just bring it to more cities. But customers have been lamenting about it on Twitter with some pointing out how they’ve paid for Swiggy membership but they sfeetill have to pay the platform fee. Swiggy One is available at Rs 399 for three months, and Rs 1,499 for one year, and it offers benefits such as free delivery and discounts.
The additional charge comes amid Swiggy reporting losses, and massive layoffs. Swiggy has also shut down ‘Handpicked’ which it introduced last December. Through Handpicked, Swiggy offered premium and imported food or those that were locally made. Handpicked was also an exclusive invite-only platform. It still has other services such as Instamart for groceries, and Genie for picking and dropping off items.
