Every now and then, you come across a news article about someone deleting food delivery and over-the-top entertainment apps from their phone and going on to save a substantial amount on monthly expenses. These stories feel nice, and somewhere, we all wish we could do that too. But who does not want to have some pizza when watching an IPL match at home or watch the latest shows on an OTT platform?
Your silent spending
“If you ask most people what they spend on “extras”, they’ll think of a big dinner or a weekend trip. Almost no one thinks of the ₹249 lunch they ordered on a busy Tuesday or the ₹199 subscription that renewed quietly at 2am,” said Chakrivardhan Kuppala, co-founder and executive director, Prime Wealth Finserv.
That’s where most of the money actually goes. Take food delivery. It’s rarely one big bill—it's 8-12 small ones throughout the month. Each order quietly carries ₹40- ₹80 in delivery, which is a fixed sum and often excused if the order is beyond a certain sum, packaging, and platform fees. But the real shift is that you order more often than you would have cooked. What used to be a once-a-week indulgence becomes a default option. That alone can push monthly spending to ₹3,000- ₹8,000 without it ever feeling excessive.
“Once online menu prices—often 10-15% higher than offline listings—are factored in, the costs go up even higher,” said Rahul Kakkad, tax partner, consumer products and retail sector, EY India.
Coming back to platform fees, the escalation across Zomato and Swiggy shows a steady rise from 2023 to 2026. “Swiggy first introduced a ₹2 fee in April-August 2023, followed by Zomato in August–December 2023. By 2024, fees increased gradually to ₹3-7 across both platforms, before jumping to ₹10 during the October 2024 festive season. In 2025, repeated hikes pushed fees to ₹12-15, and by March 2026, both platforms converged at ₹17.58 (incl. GST), driven by rising costs and competitive parity," said Deepali Gotadke, e-commerce consultant.
The hidden cost creep
If you compare your bills from a few years ago to now, nothing looks dramatically different at first glance. A delivery order still costs like ₹250- ₹300. But look a little closer, and you’ll notice subtle changes everywhere.
For quick commerce, delivery fees are a bit higher. “There’s a platform fee now that didn’t exist earlier, or used to be ₹2- ₹5 and is now closer to ₹10- ₹14. Surge pricing shows up more often. Minimum order values have crept up. None of this feels like a “price hike"—but it is,” said Kuppala.
Also, starting 22 September 2025, India's GST Council has mandated an 18% GST on delivery fees for food and quick commerce platforms (Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, Zepto) under Section 9(5) of the CGST Act.
Part of this comes from inflation—fuel, food and logistics have all become more expensive globally over the past few years. But an equally important shift is that companies are no longer subsidising convenience the way they used to.
“At the same time, our habits haven’t gone back. If anything, we’ve become more used to convenience. So we’re not just paying more per order—we're placing more orders,” said Kuppala.
In total, many households are now spending ₹2,000- ₹5,000 more every month on the same lifestyle than a few years ago.
To put it into perspective, the platform fee has increased from ₹2 to ₹15- ₹18 and delivery charges have ranged from low to ₹40- ₹60. “Prices are going up because fuel and LPG costs are higher, companies want more profit, fast delivery costs more, and discounts are less. If you order 12 times a month, you pay about ₹180 extra platform fee and ₹720 extra delivery, which is nearly ₹900 extra every month,” said Deepali Gotadke, e-commerce consultant.
For Pune-based Sneha Bajpe, a small business owner, and her husband Gaurav Das, a scientist, both 47, the rising costs of app-based services and subscriptions have made a noticeable dent in their monthly budget, often reducing how consistently they are able to save.
“Since these are small but recurring expenses, they tend to accumulate quickly and impact overall financial discipline,” said Bajpe.
When wars hit your wallet
So far, the impact of the recent US war has been relatively moderate, as governments have taken measures such as reducing duties and absorbing part of the cost increases to shield consumers.
However, if the conflict persists, the implications could be substantial. Crude oil prices have already risen from around $60 to over $100 per barrel, before settling at $96 per barrel.
“This could translate into high double-digit inflation across several sectors. For households, it would be prudent to account for at least a 10% increase in expenses in the near to medium term, which could materially raise the annual financial burden compared to pre-conflict levels,” said Shantanu Awasthi, co-founder and chief executive of Mavenark, a wealth management company.
What tends to surprise people is not the size of each payment but how often they show up. Ten food orders don’t feel like a lot until you see ten separate entries. Five subscriptions don’t feel expensive until you realize they renew every single month.
Awasthi suggests using technology to enforce discipline. Set spending alerts on credit cards and bank accounts to notify you when you exceed predefined limits.
Vivek Chouhan, 45, an HR professional, and Chitra Chouhan, 40, a homemaker, from Noida, are a family of four with two teenage children. Until a few years ago, they rarely used e‑commerce, but during the pandemic, they started relying on 10‑minute delivery apps for groceries and household items—and their use has only grown since then.
“After family discussions, we’ve decided to cut back: limit deliveries to once a day or every other day, avoid unnecessary discretionary purchases, and start shopping more at our local market, which can be more economical and help curb impulse spending,” said Chouhan.
How this adds up
“Just as an example, ₹5,000 invested every month in an equity SIP will be ₹11.60 lakh after 10 years, assuming 12% per annum return. Clearly, stopping the leaks will help create long-term wealth," said Mrin Agarwal, a Sebi-registered investment advisor and director of Finsafe.
While past performance may not repeat, the key takeaway is the power of consistent savings. “Even modest monthly redirection from discretionary spending can build a meaningful corpus over time—far outweighing the short-term gratification of consumption,” said Awasthi.
By tracking patterns, pausing before purchases, and reassessing subscriptions, you can curb unnecessary spending. These modest changes, over time, transform tiny savings into significant long-term financial growth and security.
“What may seem like a small per‑order platform or service fee adds up meaningfully over the course of a month. For a regular user ordering three times a week, platform fees alone can amount to an extra ₹150-250 every month,” said Kakkad.
Small daily expenses like food delivery, subscriptions, and convenience fees quietly increase spending over time. This “cost creep” in personal finance occurs when small price hikes and frequent purchases go unnoticed, slowly eroding savings, weakening budgets, and limiting long-term financial growth.