A Quiet Change Could Hit Your Favorite Restaurant First
Something has shifted behind the scenes at Zomato. If you love ordering food from your favorite spot a little far from home, there’s news you need to know. Zomato is now charging restaurants extra if your meal travels more than 4 kilometers.
What’s Actually Happening?
Restaurants now have the “long-distance fee” newly implemented by Zomato. If a food order goes between 4 to 6 kilometers and is worth more than ₹150, the restaurant will have to pay ₹20 extra to Zomato. If it goes beyond 6 kilometers, that charge doubles to ₹40.
Now, for lower-priced orders below ₹150, nothing is charged except if the delivery is more than 6 kilometers away. Then too, ₹40 will be charged. Earlier, this fee didn’t exist at all. Restaurants could send food across long distances without paying a single extra rupee.
Why Did Zomato Do This?
The reason is pretty straightforward profit. Zomato’s parent company, Eternal, shared a message with partners saying, “Our goal is to make each order profitable for both you and us.” Delivery costs are high, and this new fee helps Zomato balance the books.
But while this helps the platform, small restaurants may feel the pinch. Many rely on longer-distance deliveries to survive in tough markets.
Will This Affect Customers Too?
Zomato has said customers won’t see any extra charges for now. The fee is only meant for restaurant partners. If you’re using Zomato Gold, your free delivery benefits stay the same. No changes have been made to customer pricing yet.
Still, let’s be real, if restaurants start paying more, they might quietly raise their prices or limit how far they’ll deliver. The impact might not be immediate, but it’s something to watch.
What’s Next?
At this point, your food bill looks the same. But in the background, things are changing. The next time you tap “order now,” your meal might be traveling under new rules. And someday, your wallet could feel it too.
Stay tuned this delivery game just got a new twist.
