India’s Convenience Economy Is Getting Expensive

Platform fees are the new take rate, quietly taxing India’s convenience boom, especially as the Indian ecommerce market is projected to surpass $400 Bn by 2030

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Open any food delivery or quick commerce app today, and the final bill rarely matches the item price, thanks to a growing stack of platform fees and sundry charges.

Or spend a few minutes on Reddit’s consumer threads and social media and watch the frustration boil over: users aren’t just griping about food prices anymore; they’re raging against the layers of charges piled on at checkout.

The biggest flagbearers of this platform fee movement — Zomato and Swiggy — jacked up the surcharge last week. What started at ₹2 in August 2023 has now hit ₹14.9 on Zomato and ₹17.58 on Swiggy as of March 2026. That’s a staggering 500-700% surge in under three years.

What’s worse is that platform fees don’t even spare paid subscribers. Zomato Gold or Swiggy One members still fork over platform fees, packaging charges, and GST even though they might save a few rupees on the delivery fee. And that’s just the basic platform fee; in addition, we have late-night surcharges, surge pricing, and rain fees. Each seems small, but the sum definitely weighs down your final bill.

It’s not just food delivery of course. Quick commerce has taken this to a new level. Blinkit slaps a ₹20 “small cart fee” on orders under ₹99 while other platforms have a shadow fee of some kind along with the standard delivery........

© Inc42