Bengaluru: The restaurant industry, which saw food delivery aggregators like Swiggy and Zomato as a lifeline against slowing demand, is now up in arms against their arbitrary policies. In Bengaluru, restaurant owners and associations allege that Swiggy and Zomato aren’t heeding to their requests to discuss escalating commissions, mandatory platform discounts, and hidden deductions that they are forced to bear.
Restaurant associations claim that operating on feed delivery apps is becoming unsustainable due to these deductions, with restaurants in Bengaluru threatening to boycott them from August 15 if their demands are not met.
Bruhat Bengaluru Hotels Association (BBHA), along with other restaurant associations, have sought a written response from Swiggy and Zomato, along with a plan for corrective actions.
“We have asked the online aggregators to streamline their commission structure and given them time until August 15. If there is no resolution, we will boycott the platforms,” BBHA president S Subramanya Holla said.
“Customers ultimately bear the cost because restaurants do not have a 28 percent margin,” he further clarified in an interaction with Moneycontrol.
Besides that, the restaurant owners want greater transparency in advertisement charges and payment gateway fees, along with a dedicated relationship manager for every restaurant. Another big issue is the cancellation of orders after the food is prepared, where the restaurant currently has had to bear the losses for this.
Though these requests are only from Bengaluru for now, restaurants across the country have similar grievances against Swiggy and Zomato, and this could force these aggregators to the table, given how dependent they are on the restaurants. For now, the solution will come when it is seen who blinks first, and whether these aggregators will implement these reforms across the board or not.
