Swiggy levies ’platform fee’ of ₹2 on food orders from users, all you need to know

Foodtech giant Swiggy has levied a 'platform fee' of ₹2 per order from its users irrespective of the cart value.

Swiggy has rolled out the platform fee in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai. It has not disclosed as to when it would roll out the charges in other major cities.

Currently, the platform fee is only applicable to Swiggy’s food delivery service. The company has not implemented it for Instamart orders.

“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 said.

Recently, Invesco valued Swiggy's shares at $4,759 per share in October 2022, which is down from $6,212 in July of the same year. This has put Swiggy's valuation at $8.2 billion. This decline in valuation comes after the company had been valued at $10.7 billion following a $700 million funding round in January 2022.

Swiggy's valuation has dropped amid challenges faced by the company, including firing 380 employees due to a slowdown in its core food delivery business. Its quick commerce unit, Instamart, has also been lagging behind rival Zomato's grocery delivery business Blinkit, according to a report by Jefferies.

Meanwhile, HSBC Global Research has noted that Zomato has started reclaiming market share lost to Swiggy in the second half of 2022, after relaunching its loyalty programme Zomato Gold. The slowdown in Swiggy's business has led to a drop in its valuation, with the SoftBank-backed company now valued at $4.5 billion, down from $5 billion in November 2021.

Swiggy laid off 380 employees or nearly 6% of its 6,000-strong staff, joining a slew of startups who have cut headcounts in the last few months.

Majety had cited macroeconomic headwinds and a reducing growth of food delivery businesses as the reason behind the layoffs. In the financial year 2022, the company had widened its consolidated loss to ₹3,628.9 crore, which is more than double of ₹1,616.9 crore loss it reported in the preceding FY.