'Daylight Robbery': Man Flags Difference Between Online And Offline Food Prices At Same Hotel Viral Post Sparks Debate

(MENAFN- Live Mint) A social media post recently went viral on the platform X, where an online food delivery service customer shared his experience of being allegedly charged“81%” more online than what he had to pay for the same order from the same restaurant offline.

The user named Sunder shared a post on Sunday evening questioning the online food delivery platform Swiggy about why it charges significantly higher for the same list of food items that are available for a much cheaper rate at the restaurant.

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In his post, Sunder shared a list of four items and claimed that Swiggy charged him 81% more, or ₹663 more, than the actual prices of the items if bought directly from the physical restaurant. He also questioned whether this higher price reflected the 'real cost of convenience' of people who order online .

“Hey @Swiggy, please explain. Why does ordering food in the app, 81% expensive than buying the same food from the same outlet, just 2kms away. Is this the real cost of convenience? The extra that I have to pay to get the food delivered is INR 663,” said Sunder in his post.

Also Read | Zomato, Swiggy orders likely to cost more after 18% GST on delivery? Netizens React

Ever since this post was shared on social media on Sunday, it has received more than two million views. As of Monday, 8 September, the post has received over 29,000 likes, 6,200 reshares, and more than 3,700 comments from netizens.

Some people support online food delivery businesses, while others share their perspective of companies charging higher prices and holding higher margins.

“It's his business. His pricing model. I'm tired of people whining. Either pay the premium, or go and get it picked up or get it delivered yourself,” said a user named @dialoguedojo responding to the post.“Want to pay less. Go pick the food up, or call up the restaurant and manage the delivery part yourself.”

There were also some accounts which commented about restaurants having lower charges due to no delivery executive, no platform, among other things, with the revenues directly going to the business.

Also Read | Blinkit 'fires' delivery partner after customer informs of wrong delivery

“Why would you want Swiggy and Zomato to work for free?” said @trolling_isart in their response.“When you go to a restaurant yourself, there's no delivery guy, no platform, nothing. So all the money goes straight to the restaurant.”

Amid contrarian opinions, Varun Bansal, a user, said that the online food delivery applications have started abusing their customers with higher charges.

“These food delivery apps and quick commerce have started abusing the clients with the every increase handling fees costs,” said Bansal.

“Daylight robbery!” said @lakshmianand96 in her response.

Another user named Rohit Agarwal said,“This is the price we pay for the convenience and most importantly habit. These home delivery guys have been successful in creating a habit of convenience. In starting they gave unreasonable discounts and free delivery and when we became habitual to their service they started looting us.”

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Online ordering from e-commerce platforms such as Swiggy, Zomato, and Blinkit may become more expensive soon. Under the revamped GST regime, effective 22 September 2025, companies will have to pay 18% goods and services tax (GST) on their delivery services.

The central government's GST Council, after its 56th meeting on 3 September 2025, announced that e-commerce and quick commerce platforms will have to pay 18% GST on delivery charges effective 22 September 2025, as part of the revamped GST structure.

Although the companies have not officially confirmed that the cost of delivery will increase, recent media reports suggest that this extra 18% charge can be passed on to the customers to prevent a loss in operations.

Delivery costs are a major expense for online delivery companies like Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto, and Blinkit .

Mint reported earlier, citing an example of how if a customer orders food worth nearly ₹500 from one of the Indian online food delivery platforms, the customer has already paid a restaurant GST of nearly ₹88, along with an almost ₹15 platform fee, inclusive of GST, on top of the packing charges.

If companies decide to pass on the effect of the 18% GST on delivery services, then people ordering online may have to pay more in taxes for their delivery charges to their doorstep.

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