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Swiggy raises platform fee amid festive rush, seeks better unit economics
Swiggy has raised its platform fee to ₹14 per order during the festive season to boost profitability amid widening losses and rising operational costs.
Swiggy has quietly raised its platform fee to ₹14 per order, up from ₹12, as heightened demand during the festive period allows the food delivery company to widen margins, according to a Moneycontrol report.
The two-rupee hike, though negligible for most users, adds up significantly for a company that fulfills more than two million orders a day. At the current run rate, the higher fee could generate an additional ₹2.8 crore in daily revenue — translating to roughly ₹8.4 crore per quarter and ₹33.6 crore annually — boosting Swiggy’s bottom line at a time when profitability has become paramount.
Swiggy introduced this fee in April 2023 in a bid to improve its unit economics, gradually increasing it as customer behavior revealed little pushback. “Since then, the company has gradually increased the platform fee as it saw no impact on order volumes despite additional costs,” the report noted.
Although this particular increase may only be seasonal — Swiggy could revert to ₹12 once holiday demand subsides — industry observers say it reflects a broader trend. Both Zomato and Swiggy have experimented with higher platform fees during peak periods and retained them if order volumes remained strong.
Back in April 2023, the fee was as low as ₹2. By the end of the year, around New Year’s Eve, the charge rose to ₹10 or more as both companies tested consumer tolerance for incremental fees. The increased charges come at a time when Swiggy is contending with widening losses, driven largely by heavy investment in its quick-commerce arm, Instamart.
On July 31, the Bengaluru-based firm reported a net loss of ₹1,197 crore for the first quarter of FY26 — nearly double the ₹611 crore it lost a year earlier. The company had posted a ₹1,081 crore loss in the previous quarter, with the Instamart expansion weighing heavily on the balance sheet.
Revenue, however, is rising. Swiggy’s operating revenue grew 54 percent year-on-year to ₹4,961 crore in Q1, compared with ₹3,222 crore a year ago. The firm reported ₹4,410 crore in revenue in the preceding quarter.
Rival Zomato reported a 90 percent year-on-year decline in quarterly profit to ₹25 crore in Q1, even as its revenue jumped 70.4 percent year-on-year to ₹7,167 crore.
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