Ordering food online from popular Ahmedabad restaurants could be costing up to 58% more than eating at the outlet itself — and that’s before adding delivery charges and taxes.
According to a media report, a survey by the Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC) found that many restaurants are inflating the base prices of dishes on Zomato and Swiggy. Consumer rights group Grahak Sathi compared real-time prices of items from eight eateries and discovered a consistent markup between dine-in and online menus. CERC has termed this practice “unfair.”
Cost of convenience
“The comparison shows that the base price of the same dish increases by Rs 20 to Rs 110 on a food delivery app, depending on the food item and the outlet. The price can be anywhere between 10% to 58% higher,” said Anusha Iyer, Deputy General Manager (Advocacy) at CERC. “Over and above this, the final bill often includes a platform fee, delivery charges, and taxes, pushing the total even higher.”
An ‘unfair practice’
According to a communiqué issued by the consumer body, restaurants often shift the burden of the commission they pay to the delivery platforms onto consumers by inflating prices on the apps.
CERC argues that the logic used by restaurants to justify this-such as maintaining food quality-is flawed. “For dine-in customers, restaurants bear additional costs like rent, staff salaries, ambience, and other services. None of these costs apply to online orders. In fact, delivery orders involve fewer expenses,” the statement reads.
“Yet, consumers are charged more for the same dish when ordered online. This means that the consumer ends up paying not only for the food but also for the restaurant’s platform costs. This practice shifts the restaurant’s burden onto the consumer, and that is an unfair practice which violates basic consumer rights.”