Launch · Commerce & Consumer Brands

Zomato introduces cash-on-delivery fee on orders

By Startup Enthusiast · 17 September 2026

What they do

Zomato is India's largest food delivery app, operating in over 800 cities

It has introduced a 'Pay on Delivery Fee' for cash-on-delivery orders, varying from Rs 5 to Rs 30

The fee encourages prepaid orders and reduces cash-handling losses, while competitors like Swiggy have not followed

Zomato has introduced a 'Pay on Delivery Fee' for cash-on-delivery orders.
The fee amount varies and is reported as Rs 5, Rs 7, Rs 20, Rs 21, or 2% of order value up to a Rs 30 cap.
The fee is not charged on prepaid (online) orders.
Zomato's platform fee is Rs 14.99 per order (plus GST), increased from Rs 12.50 earlier in 2026.
The platform fee started at Rs 2 in 2023, was raised to Rs 10 in October 2024, then Rs 12.50, and now Rs 14.99.
Zomato has over 27 million average monthly transacting customers in Q1 FY27.
It has over 300,000 monthly active restaurant partners.
Zomato's parent Eternal reported consolidated adjusted revenue of Rs 20,648 crore in Q1 FY27, up 173% year-on-year.

The cash-on-delivery fee is seen as encouraging prepaid orders and reducing cash-handling losses.
Some users have questioned the legality of the cash-handling fee, citing RBI guidelines.
Zomato's main competitor Swiggy has not introduced a similar cash-on-delivery fee.
The India food delivery market is a functional duopoly (Zomato/Eternal and Swiggy), with challengers like Rapido's Ownly and Flipkart's Eat In emerging.
Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal has addressed lower-cost food-delivery models in shareholder communications.

Zomato is an online food ordering and delivery platform, India's number one food delivery app.
It operates in over 800 cities and has delivered over 3 billion orders.
Zomato Gold offers benefits like free delivery within 7 km and up to 30% extra off at 20,000+ partner restaurants.
Zomato's parent Eternal also operates Blinkit (quick commerce), District (going-out), and Hyperpure (B2B supplies).
Zomato entered the food-delivery market in 2015 and acquired Uber Eats India in an all-stock deal in 2020.
Zomato's estimated daily food orders are 2.3-2.5 million.
Potential annual revenue from a Rs 5 fee on all orders is estimated at Rs 420-456 crore, but cash orders are a fraction of total orders.
Zomato and Blinkit helped 2.1 lakh delivery partners file ITRs for FY25-26, resulting in Rs 33.6 crore tax refunds.
75% of delivery partners who filed ITRs were first-time filers (~1.57 lakh).