Zepto becomes first quick-commerce firm to levy platform fee of Rs 2

NEW DELHI: Zepto has become the first quick-commerce company to introduce a platform fee of Rs 2 per order.

The platform fee will apply to a select set of users.

Currently, Zomato-owned Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart, both competitors of Zepto, do not charge a fee on grocery orders, but collect a platform fee from food delivery orders.

"We do not believe in being over-dependent on delivery fees to be profitable. We believe in core operating efficiency and cost reduction to be profitable. We are on track to achieve the EBITDA positive milestone even with much lower delivery fees -- Zepto Pass is the quintessential example of this," a company spokesperson said in a statement.

A platform fee is not the only extra charge Zepto is levying on customers. The company also charges a 'late night handling fee' of Rs 15 on orders placed after 11 p.m. in certain instances.

Meanwhile, Zepto has clocked 1,339 per cent revenue growth (year-on-year) in FY23, while its losses also widened significantly from the previous fiscal year.

In its second year since launching its first dark store in Mumbai, Zepto's revenue has grown 14 times to Rs 2,024 crore (from Rs 142.36 crore in FY22), while losses widened by three times to Rs 1,272 crore -- from Rs 390 crore in FY22.

Founded in July 2021, Zepto recently said it plans to go public in the next 2-3 years.