Ahead of the festive season, the online food delivery giant Zomato has increases its platform fee to Rs 10 per order from Rs 7.

The company announced this change on Wednesday (October 23) through a notification on its app, explaining that the slight hike helps maintain operations during the busy festive period.

The notification read: "This fee helps us pay our bills to keep Zomato running. To maintain services during festive season, it has increased slightly."

The company initially introduced the platform fee in August 2023 at Rs 2 per order

Since then, the company has increased the fee multiple times, with the most recent rise marking a 400 per cent increase over a little more than a year.

This hike comes after the platform temporarily raised the fee to Rs 9 on New Year's Eve 2023.

Why the Fee Keeps Going Up

According to Zomato, the platform fee is essential for covering operational costs and maintaining its services.

As demand increases during the festive season, the company justified the need for a higher fee to ensure smooth deliveries during peak times.

Zomato's Financial Performance

This hike in the platform fee comes just a day after the announcement of the financial results of the company.

The company's net profit for the quarter stood at Rs 176 crore, marking its fifth consecutive profitable quarter.

In the same period last year, Zomato had reported a net profit of ₹36 crore.

Zomato’s Share Performance

Following the announcement of the platform fee hike and the company's quarterly earnings report, the shares of the company as of 1:58 PM IST on October 23, were trading at Rs 265.60 apiece, a 3.55 per cent increase.

Netizens Reaction to the Hike

Taking to social media platform X, an X user wrote, "Zomato hikes platform fee! Pay an inflated cost of food to use the platform Pay a platform fee to use the platform Restaurants pay a fee to use the platform. And finally, pay with ur health by eating outside food What an idea sirjee"

Another user added, "Direct ordering by call is best 40% less cost than Zomato"