Zomato’s Successful New Year’s Eve Prompts Platform Fee Hike to Rs 4

New Delhi: Following a surge in food orders on New Year’s Eve, Zomato, the food delivery platform, has raised its mandatory platform fee from Rs 3 to Rs 4 per order across key markets. This adjustment came into effect on January 1, with Zomato temporarily increasing the platform fee to Rs 9 per order in specific markets during the festive period.

The move seems to have impacted Zomato positively, as its shares opened on a high note, hovering around Rs 126 in the morning. International brokerage firm CLSA remained optimistic about Zomato’s stock.

To enhance its margins and achieve profitability, Zomato initially introduced a Rs 2 platform fee in August of the previous year, later raising it to Rs 3. The recent hike to Rs 4 applies to all customers, including those subscribed to Zomato Gold.

On New Year’s Eve, both Zomato and its quick-commerce platform Blinkit experienced their highest-ever orders and bookings compared to previous years. Zomato Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal expressed excitement about the future, highlighting the significant growth in orders.

Albinder Dhindsa, CEO of Blinkit, reported surpassing the total number of orders from NYE 2022 in the evening alone, achieving records in various categories like orders per minute, soft drinks, tonic water, and chips sold in a day, as well as tips given to riders.

However, amidst this success, Zomato received notices from tax authorities in Delhi and Karnataka, alleging a short payment of goods and services tax (GST) amounting to Rs 4.2 crore. Zomato has stated its intent to appeal against these tax demand notices.

This development follows a previous show-cause notice of Rs 400 crore from GST authorities over unpaid dues categorized as “delivery charges.”