Zomato adds 2% pay-on-delivery fee, capped at Rs 30
Zomato has introduced a 2% surcharge on cash and doorstep QR orders, capped at Rs 30, creating a new revenue lever for higher-cost payment modes. Cash-on-delivery accounts for about 20% of food-delivery orders, as competition from lower-fee rivals intensifies.
What happened
Zomato has introduced a 2% pay-on-delivery surcharge, capped at Rs 30, for cash or doorstep QR payments. The fee targets added operational costs and creates a
Key facts
- 2% pay-on-delivery fee
- Fee capped at Rs 30
- Rs 14.9 platform fee
- Cash-on-delivery is about 20% of order volume
- 270-280 million food delivery orders in April-June quarter
- 2.9-3.1 million orders per day
- June-quarter net order value: Rs 10,769 crore
- Net order value up 20% year-on-year
Why this matters
The move signals that payment-mode economics are becoming a competitive differentiator, making fintech, prepaid-payment and cost-efficient delivery capabilities strategically more valuable.
What to watch
- Change in Zomato's pay-on-delivery share from the reported roughly 20% of food-delivery orders.
- Checkout conversion, order frequency and cancellation rates among COD and doorstep-QR cohorts after the fee launch.
- Whether Swiggy, Magicpin or other delivery rivals explicitly waive or avoid similar charges.
- Customer complaints, app-store sentiment and social-media reaction focused on hidden-fee or checkout-price concerns.
- Evidence of fee exemptions for subscription members, large baskets, selected geographies or high-value customers.
- Sequential movement in food-delivery adjusted revenue per order and contribution margin, separating fee revenue from demand effects.
- Test personalized or cohort-based COD fees, with lower charges for high-frequency customers and higher charges for high-cancellation users.
- Use checkout prompts and targeted discounts to migrate pay-on-delivery users to prepaid UPI, cards and wallet payments.
- Monitor whether doorstep QR users are more fee-sensitive than cash users; potentially differentiate charges by payment method and city.
- Competitors may launch temporary COD-fee waivers, prepaid-payment discounts, or messaging around transparent final pricing.
- Restaurants and delivery partners may see fewer cash settlements and lower delivery-time friction if prepaid adoption rises.