Bengaluru: City restaurants have warned they may stop accepting orders from food delivery aggregators Swiggy and Zomato after Aug 15 unless concerns over commissions, platform-funded discounting and other charges imposed on eateries are addressed.The Bangalore Hotels Association (BHA) took the decision at a meeting Wednesday after nearly 10 months of discussions with food delivery platforms failed to yield a resolution.Restaurant owners argue steep commissions and platform-led discounting have squeezed their margins, forcing many to raise menu prices on delivery apps.They contend the model hurts both restaurants and consumers, with customers paying more than what they would at the outlet – even when delivery is said to be free or discounted – while eateries lose control over pricing and profitability.P C Rao, the president of BHA, said: “We have now given them 15 days to rectify these, failing which, we will take a joint decision with other associations,” he added.According to the association, Bengaluru has around 34,000 hotels and restaurants, of which, nearly 20,000 are listed on online food delivery platforms. If the talks fail, a large section of these establishments could stop accepting online orders from Aug 15.Suraj Madhnani, owner of cafe and patisserie Amintiri, warned: “If restaurants continue to face margin pressure, they will start compromising — whether on ingredient quality or portion sizes.”Rapido-backed food delivery platform Ownly, meanwhile, is seeking to capitalise on the discontent with a zero-commission model, under which, restaurants do not pay any commission to the platform. Aravind Sanka, the head of Ownly, said the platform aims to make pricing more transparent.Arun Adiga, owner of Vidyarthi Bhavan restaurant, said customers ultimately care about what they pay, adding that menu prices on some delivery platforms are often significantly higher than those charged by restaurants.Weighing in on the issue, National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) said it supports the restaurants’ concerns, but prefers dialogue over confrontation. According to NRAI president Sagar Daryani, “it is unfortunate that restaurants felt so cornered that they believed a boycott of Swiggy and Zomato was their only option”.(With inputs from Vindhya Pabolu)
