Although the particular markets where the platform fee has been implemented has not been revealed yet, the move is seen as an attempt to embark on new avenues of profitability, boost earnings and drive sustainable growth.

It comes at a time when the food-tech giant reported its first-ever quartely profit of ₹2 crore from April-June. In the pop-up message displaying the charge, the app has highlighted that it ‘helps to pay the bills and keep Zomato running’.

The company’s income surged by 64% to ₹2,597 crore in the same quarter, showing significant progress compared to a loss of ₹186 crore recorded a year ago. The food delivery industry witnessed a rebound in demand in recent months, which catapulted Zomato’s growth. As of June 2023, the platform had around 17.5 million monthly transacting customers.

The additional charges are not yet part of the company’s quick-commerce platform – Blinkit. According to media reports, the experiment is currently in its trial phase and the long-term implementation will depend on the outcome.

Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal, in a letter to shareholders, said it has been striving to simplify its business and ensuring the right people are in apt positions within the company. “…I can in hindsight say that most of our seemingly ‘risky’ bets have changed the trajectory of the business significantly, much faster than we expected,” he added.

Zomato’s competitor platform Swiggy had already introduced a similar fee on all orders earlier this year.

Zomato shares surged to a one-and-a-half-year high on Friday after the ahead-of-schedule quarterly profit in a sign it was on the path to sustained earnings growth. Shares zoomed over 14 per cent to reach its 52-week high of ₹98.39 in morning trade on the BSE.

(With inputs from agencies)