Ordering food from Zomato becomes expensive, platform charge increased by 25%; This service also stopped

Online food delivery company Zomato has increased the platform charge by 25%. This means that now ordering food from Zomato will be a little more expensive.

Zomato spokesperson told news agency Reuters that now customers will have to pay Rs 5 as a platform charge on every order instead of Rs 4. This increase has also come into effect from Saturday (April 20).

Zomato, Deepinder Goyal's company, ships between 85 and 90 crore orders a year. Accordingly, Zomato's EBITDA is anticipated to rise by Rs 85 to Rs 90 crore yearly by raising the platform fee by Re 1 per order.

The 'Intercity Legends' service has also been discontinued by Zomato. Through an intercity food delivery service, the business used to transport orders from large restaurants in major cities to clients in other cities.

August of last year marked Zomato's introduction of platform fees. The company used to charge customers Rs 2 for each order at that time. Afterwards, it was raised to Rs 3 and subsequently Rs 4. Zomato will now charge users Rs 5 for each order.

Zomato started charging a platform charge of Rs 2 in August last year. Later it was increased to Rs 3 and from January 1, 2024, to Rs 4. The company had charged Rs 9 as a platform fee from customers on December 31, 2023.

Zomato has also introduced a Large Order Fleet recently. According to Deepinder Goyal, Founder and CEO of Zomato, this squad will deliver food to a maximum of 50 people at a time in events like parties. This will facilitate customers in placing large orders. Zomato will further improve its fleet by adding many features like temperature control.

Today, Zomato shares had jumped by about 2% in early trade. It has given investors returns of about 76 per cent in the last six months and 242 per cent in one year.

Even if we talk about 2024 so far, investors have made more than 54% profit. Zomato will release its fourth quarter results next month i.e. mid-May.