Namakkal restaurants cut ties with Swiggy, Zomato over commission dispute

Restaurants in Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, have stopped accepting food orders through online delivery platforms like Swiggy and Zomato from Tuesday, following a dispute over commission charges, according to the Times of India.

The restaurant owners had already announced that they would stop supplying food to the platforms on July 1, citing unfair pricing practices.

In addition to halting online food orders, restaurants also cancelled deliveries for customers who had already placed them online.


On June 23, an emergency meeting was held by the Town and Taluk Hotels and Bakery Owners Association, led by President M Ramkumar. During the meeting, members raised concerns about hidden costs added by food aggregators, such as advertising fees, which reduce restaurant profits, Times of India reported.

Association secretary Arulkumaran told reporters that platforms like Swiggy and Zomato charge different commission rates to different restaurants. "In Namakkal taluk alone, 85 eateries are involved in online sales, resulting in daily online food transactions worth Rs 10 lakh," he said.

He added that talks with the platforms failed to produce any agreement, leading to an indefinite halt in online orders. He also pointed out that restaurants are paid only after a week for each sale, which is putting financial pressure on business owners.