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When A (name kept anonymous) bought tickets for the 2025 <keyword id="22044624" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Coldplay-concert" source="keywords">Coldplay concert</keyword> in Mumbai from a certain “concert organizer” account on <keyword id="19900288" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="instagram" source="keywords">Instagram</keyword>, they were over the moon. Yes, the tickets were exorbitantly expensive, way above the prices advertised on <keyword id="20215809" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="BookMyShow" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="BookMyShow" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="BookMyShow">BookMyShow</keyword> (BMS), the official ticketing partner. But so what? What mattered was that they could finally attend Coldplay's concert. At 12 noon on September 22, when bookings for Coldplay’s 2025 India leg of “Music of the Sphere” world tour had commenced, A was also in line, having logged in since 11:30 am, from 4 different screens and through 6 cousins. But God, and BMS were in no mood to reward her efforts and patience. The ticket sale lasted for a mere few seconds, before the site crashed and all tickets were sold out. Turns out, even the second time wasn’t the charm for them. The first time, too, A had not been able to get tickets for Diljit’s Dil-luminati India tour, which had gone live earlier last month. They had applied for an HDFC Pixel credit card to access the early-bird offer, but it was as if luck was taunting them “vibe teri meri na mildi aa”. could not get tickets for Diljit’s concert as well, which had also vanished within minutes of going live, much like Coldplay's. That’s why, when they saw that tickets for both Diljit and Coldplay were being sold by various Instagram accounts, despite showing as sold out on <keyword id="20496317" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zomato-Live" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Zomato Live" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Zomato Live">Zomato Live</keyword> and BookMyShow, it seemed magical to A. And per Coldplay, “If you were to ask me, after all that we've been through. Still believe in magic?”, the only acceptable response is “Yes I do, of course I do!” So, they went ahead, agreed to pay Rs 35,000, and bought Coldplay tickets which would’ve cost them Rs 6,450 via BMS. A steep price to pay, but at least they had their ticket to “an experience of a lifetime!”. As it is, the band had announced its retirement post its 12th album, and the band had just launched its 10th album, "Moon Music". <h2>BookMyShow to “fix” scalpers?</h2>But this morning, BMS startled many people like A by stating that unethically sourced tickets (read: tickets not directly booked via BMS) could be canceled. The platform had already filed an FIR to this effect with the <keyword id="19906039" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mumbai-police" source="keywords">Mumbai police</keyword> on October 2, 2024, against the rampant “ticket scalping and black marketing of tickets for Coldplay's <keyword id="22420646" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Music-of-the-Spheres" source="keywords">Music Of The Spheres</keyword> World Tour 2025 in India”. The ticketing platform added that they had provided details of all resellers that had caught their sight, including independent individuals reselling tickets for Coldplay’s tour across social media platforms such as Instagram (where A had purchased their tickets from) and WhatsApp. Not just these small resellers, but multinational ticket exchange and <keyword id="23273060" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ticket-resale" source="keywords">ticket resale</keyword> platform <keyword id="23278340" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="viagogo" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="viagogo" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="viagogo">Viagogo</keyword>, and its parent company StubHub Holdings have also been served legal notices by Zomato Live and BMS. While Zomato Live has not commented on if the tickets purchased via Viagogo or such scalpers would be canceled or not, it is no secret that hours after the tickets were shown as sold out on these official sites, tickets for both Diljit and Coldplay’s concert were available on Viagogo, albeit at sky-high prices. Even as of today, you can buy tickets for Coldplay’s concert in Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium on January 19th, 2025 on Viagogo. The catch? You should be willing to empty your pockets. Consider this. Tickets for level 2 stand E were priced at Rs 9,000 on BMS. On Viagogo, the tickets for this specific category start at Rs 54,431, and go as high as Rs 1,89,512. The tickets A bought were also originally priced at Rs 6,450. But on Viagogo, the starting range is Rs 31,288, going up to Rs 1,13,207. Talk about earning 5x-6x returns! In comparison, the ticket prices offered by these Instagram reseller accounts, also termed as scalpers, might look benign, even generous. But at the end of the day, scalpers are also looking to rake in profits, which they earn by selling these tickets in bulk i.e. lots of 5-10 tickets at once. After all, who is attending concerts alone? The slim margins on individual tickets are well cushioned by the extra bucks brought in by the higher quantities of tickets sold at once. Consider this: <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Phase/Level (For Diljit’s Concert) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Original Price (As shown on Zomato Live) (In Rs) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Prices offered by an IG account reselling tickets for Delhi (26th October, 2024) (In Rs) </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Silver </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1,499 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2,399-3,999 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Gold Standing (Phase 1,2,3) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;"> 4,999-8,999 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">7,999- 10,000 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Fan Pit (Standing) Phase 1 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">12,999 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">20,000 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Fan Pit (Standing) Phase 2 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">19,999 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">25,000 </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: Zomato Live, IG accounts of resellers/scalpers <h2>Modus Operandi</h2>Most scalpers don't demand the entire money upfront. In A’s case, the scalper demanded a 20% advance for booking confirmation. Others ask for as much as 50% of the booking amount. Once that’s done, the customer would get an e-ticket on their registered email ID, which will mention their seat number and booking ID. Then, once this customer pays the remaining amount, the physical tickets will be dispatched to their registered address. Mind you, these physical tickets are important. Just e-tickets won't make the cut for both Coldplay and Diljit. You would not be able to enter the venue if you don't have this physical ticket or a wearable band. So, if the tickets are not delivered to your place before the concert, you’d be left stranded, even after paying all that money. Also, dont be surprised with a constant, relentless barrage of messages and calls, if you so much as just inquire about the tickets. Most scalpers, in a bid to quickly close on the opportunity, call incessantly, not giving buyers enough headspace to make rational, or for that matter, rationally priced decisions. But even after all the hassle, there is no guarantee of timely, or even delivery. While there were multiple screenshots on each of these pages, showing confirmation from various Instagram users saying that tickets had been delivered, but is that convincing proof enough? Or legal enough? <h2>Its legit, its not legit-No one knows! </h2>Well, it's a gray area, truth be told. But Germaine Pereira, Partner, Solomon &amp; Co. underlines that if the buyer is willing to pay a premium or higher price than the ticket’s original face value, it is valid, and perfectly legal under the Indian Contract Act, 1872 “Ticket resale or scalping, where individuals or entities buy tickets for specific events, and then resell such tickets at a higher price to make a profit, is valid if it meets the essential elements of a contract-offer, acceptance, consideration, and lawful object. Unless there is a clearly established motive of cheating or fraudulent inducement or exorbitant pricing of tickets in the secondary markets, there’s nothing wrong”, continues Pereira. State governments are also largely reluctant to establish regulations in these waters, since a resale would entail double entertainment tax, which only adds to their coffers. Says advocate Siddharth Chandrashekhar, Senior Panel Counsel at Bombay High Court, "Although some state police forces, like in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Punjab, have cracked down on illegal sales, arrests are rare, and the absence of cohesive legislation leaves enforcement inconsistent. Black marketing or reselling of live event tickets at escalated prices constitutes an offense under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 for petty crimes, the Consumer Protection Act 2019 for unfair trade practices, and the Competition Act 2002 for abuse of dominant position”, Chandrashekhar highlights. “While Maharashtra’s Entertainment Duty Act, 1923, attempts to curb resale for some events, most states lack clear laws addressing scalping. Concert ticket scalping in India operates in a regulatory vacuum. With no specific national laws, opportunistic sellers can legally resell tickets for exorbitant sums, with no recourse for buyer”, he signs off.

'Will my tickets get canceled now?' people who purchased tickets from scalpers during the Diljit-Coldplay mania ask

<keyword id="19898109" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Paytm" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Paytm" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Paytm">Paytm</keyword>'s parent company, <keyword id="20253123" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="One97-Communications" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="One97 Communications" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="One97 Communications">One97 Communications</keyword>, declared its Q2FY25 results today, announcing a one-time, exceptional profit of Rs 1,345 crore during the quarter, thanks to the sale of its entertainment ticketing business. The company's PAT (profit after tax) stood at Rs 930 crore. Notably, without this windfall gain, Paytm's finances would still be in red, with the company racking up losses worth Rs 415 crore. Paytm was in red in the year-ago period as well, incurring losses worth Rs 290.5 crore. This windfall profit also improved Paytm's EBITDA by Rs 388 crore on a QoQ basis. The company's revenue also saw a slight uptick of 10.5% quarterly to Rs 1,659 crore, as opposed to Rs 1,501 crore in the previous quarter. But on a year-on-year basis, Paytm's revenue dipped significantly by 34%. The company also announced that it has entered into a DLG (<keyword id="23641220" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Default-Loss-Guarantee" source="keywords">default loss guarantee</keyword>) model for its merchant loans of about Rs 225 crore with SMFG India Credit. Under this arrangement, Paytm will be first in line to take a hit in case of a loss that emerges from borrowers defaulting or skipping their payments. "Following the regulatory framework and the emerging market practice, we see increased willingness from lenders to partner and allocate more capital in the default loss. The DLG model will help to increase disbursements with the existing partners and expand partnerships with new lenders for the loan distribution,” said the company in its earnings release today. The company's revenue from its payment business also inched up 9% on a quarterly basis, along with its revenue from <keyword id="19976433" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="financial-services" source="keywords">financial services</keyword>, which also grew by 34% QoQ. At present, Paytm's total merchant subscriptions stand at 1.12 crore, with the company garnering 3 lakh new merchants during the quarter. During the previous quarter, Paytm's <keyword id="20253122" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gross-merchandise-value" source="keywords">gross merchandise value</keyword> (GMV) also inched up by 5% on a sequential basis, which experts anticipate will continue in the coming quarters, just as India braces for the festive season. Per its release, Paytm aims to achieve <keyword id="23641219" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="EBITDA-profitability" source="keywords">EBITDA profitability</keyword> (before ESOPs) by the fourth quarter of this financial year. However, investors remained unimpressed with Paytm's performance, with its share slipping by around 3.96% during the day to trade at Rs 697.20. The stock has a YTD (yield-to-date) of 7.91% during the year.

Paytm declares Q2 results, earns Rs 930 crore as windfall gains by way of sale of ticketing business to Zomato

Both online <keyword id="6376068" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Food-Delivery" source="Orion">food delivery</keyword> platforms charge some money from customers in the name of delivery fees. There is often a dispute between tax officers and food delivery apps regarding the delivery fee, which involves nearly Rs 1000 crore, according to the reports. When reached for a comment, <keyword id="830092" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zomato" source="Orion">Zomato</keyword> refused. <keyword id="6358977" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swiggy" source="Orion">Swiggy</keyword> did not comment either. As per Zomato and Swiggy, 'delivery charge' is nothing but the cost borne by the delivery partners who go to deliver food from door to door. Companies simply collect that cost from customers and pass it on to delivery partners. But, tax officials do not agree with this, as per the reports. Last month, Swiggy increased the platform fee from Rs 2 to Rs 3 for food orders. A Swiggy spokesperson told IANS, that "there has been no significant change on platform fee, which is applied by most service players and is a common practice across industries". In April, the company introduced a platform fee of Rs 2 per order, irrespective of the cart value. In August, Zomato also increased its platform fee to Rs 3 per order from an initial Rs 2. Zomato started charging the platform fee from Zomato Gold users, who were previously exempted.

Zomato, Swiggy slapped with Rs 500 crore GST each: Report

<ul><li>New Year's Eve saw <keyword id="830092" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zomato" source="Orion">Zomato</keyword> temporarily increasing its <keyword id="7196797" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="platform-fee" source="Orion">platform fee</keyword> as high as ₹9 per order in certain markets.</li><li>In August last year, Zomato introduced a ₹2 platform fee to improve its <keyword id="45934" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="margins" source="Orion">margins</keyword> and become <keyword id="6794530" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="profitable" source="Orion">profitable</keyword>.</li><li>Constant increase in delivery/platform fee may enable lower <keyword id="382629" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="growth-rates" source="Orion">growth rates</keyword> for order volume</li></ul> Buoyed by record food orders on New Year's Eve, food delivery platform Zomato increased its mandatory platform fee to ₹4 from ₹3 per order across key markets. The new rates were effective from January 1. New Year's Eve saw Zomato temporarily increasing its platform fee as high as ₹9 per order in certain markets. The company's shares opened high (hovering around ₹126 in morning) on Tuesday after international brokerage firm CLSA remained bullish on its stock. In August last year, Zomato introduced a ₹2 platform fee to improve its margins and become profitable. The company later increased the platform fee to ₹3 before raising it again on January 1 to ₹4. The new platform fee is levied on all customers, including Zomato Gold. “This has been one of the ways of improving profitability for Zomato - apart from ad revenue, delivery charges and higher commission from restaurants - as margin levers. Zomato does about 85 - 90 crore orders annually - an increase in each Re 1 convenience fee will lead to a positive impact of ₹85-90 crore on EBITDA - which is around 5% positive impact on EBITDA,” says Karan Taurani, Senior Vice President-Research Analyst at Elara Capital. However, he says that constant increase in delivery/platform fee may enable lower growth rates for order volume and one would need to monitor potential impact of this on order volume growth. Zomato and its quick commerce platform Blinkit saw highest-ever orders and bookings on the New Year's Eve, compared to previous years. "We have delivered almost as many orders on NYE 23 as we did on NYE 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 combined. Excited about the future!" Zomato Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal posted on X. Albinder Dhindsa, CEO, Blinkit said they crossed the total number of orders they did on NYE 2022 in the evening only. "We've already hit highest-ever orders in a day, OPM (orders per minute), soft drinks and tonic water sold in a day, chips sold in a day, tips given to riders in a day (thank you India)," Dhindsa informed. Meanwhile, Zomato received notices from the tax authorities in Delhi and Karnataka over alleged short payment of goods and services tax (GST) amounting to ₹4.2 crore. Zomato said it will appeal against the tax demand notices. This came after Zomato received ₹400 crore show-cause notice from the goods and services tax authorities over unpaid dues collected as "delivery charges". With inputs from IANS

Zomato hikes platform fee to ₹4 across key cities after bumper NY Eve

<ul><li><keyword id="830092" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zomato" source="Orion">Zomato</keyword>’s promise to turn net profit positive in a year has cheered investors. </li><li>Margins in its core food delivery business has hit a multi-quarter high. </li><li>The worry? Monthly transacting users and gross order value has declined versus the previous reported quarter. </li><li>Nomura believes Zomato will find it difficult to achieve double-digit contributory margin with high growth in the long term </li></ul>Two years after it listed on the bourses, Zomato is on a recovery path. The stock which hit a high of over ₹150 per share fell sharply subsequently to below ₹50 a piece. However, the last quarter (Q1FY24) has seen a recovery from that level and it has now surpassed its listing price of ₹76. The stock has been rising steadily in the last three weeks, after its Q4 earnings report where it turned EBITDA positive in its core business, without including Blinkit, its quick commerce business. EBITDA is net income (earnings) with interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation. Moreover, the management also promised to turn positive not just at the consolidated adjusted EBITDA level but also at the profit after tax level in a year. Financial services company, JM Financial says this commitment is the ‘cherry on the cake’. “Tough macro posed growth headwinds but management showed urgency on profitability and that was despite the Gold programme launch,” said Jefferies. Zomato Gold is a subscription plan that offers free deliveries within a 10-kilometre radius for orders above ₹199. During the quarter, as many as 30% of the gross order value, from 1.8 million customers, came from Gold. The Gold plan could hurt its contributory margins (CM) because of its inability to charge every order. Yet, as of Q4, its CM in core food delivery business are comfortable after hitting a multi-quarter high. Contributory margins represent the incremental money generated for each unit sold after deducting the variable portion of the costs. “The core business milestone was achieved mainly on the back of solid expansion in the food delivery contribution margin to 5.8% in Q4 vs 5.1% in Q3. This was because profitability levers such as improvement in restaurant commissions and ad income, and lower discounts/variable cost offset the adverse impact of Gold launch,” said JM Financial. Ordering effects After the post-pandemic boom effects faded away, a lot of consumption patterns have changed, also evident in consumer spending on fast food — impacting growth in quick service restaurants. These headwinds have been impacting Zomato as well. The growth in Zomato’s food delivery business seems to have flatlined. Food gross order value declined 2% quarter-on-quarter, even as it grew 12% year-on-year. Moreover, its monthly transacting users (MTU) declined by 5% QoQ to 16.6 million, while growing at 6% YoY. Apart from the one-time impact of its decision to exit from 225 cities, the company attributes MTU decline to optimised marketing spend and withdrawal of the human support interface for abusive customer cohorts. “Also because of Zomato Gold, the MTUs have come down and not gone up because we do see an impact of clubbing some orders in the same households, which might have just a single membership,” Akshant Goyal, chief financial officer of Zomato said in an earnings concall. The management, however, remains confident about food delivery ordering going up in the first quarter of FY24. Analysts, on the other hand, are not too confident about their ability to sustain growth beyond the first quarter as summer holiday and IPL impact during April/May are one-off events. Its other businesses, however, continue to display good growth. Blinkit’s gross order value grew 17% QoQ, while order volume grew 24%. Revenues of Hyperpure, its business to supply ingredients to restaurants, grew 13.5% QoQ. Offsetting margins with growth While it’s on a path to profitability, Zomato is also caught between a rock and a hard place — of growth versus margins. To boost growth, it will have to go in for discounts – the lack of aggressive discounting by all players is already visible in the moderation in food ordered during the IPL season, generally a big occasion for online food platforms. This year, the IPL spike in food ordering was at a modest 7% for the industry as compared to the 2020 IPL when it was over 50%, as per Redseer. This time, there were no high <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/ipl-2023-sees-tier-2-cities-order-more-on-swiggy-zomato/articleshow/100673879.cms">decibel ads along with deep discounts.</a> Like other players in the business, the company will also find it tough to keep up with the high margin trajectory, while also chasing growth. “Overall, we lower our growth assumptions for its food delivery’s gross order value growth, from around 20% to around 17%, but raise our FY24F contributory margin estimate from 5.8% to 6.5%. We continue to believe Zomato will find it difficult to achieve double-digit contributory margin, with high growth in the long term,” said Nomura. Restaurant commissions grow but may hit an ONDC wall In the last two years, the company was also able to improve take rates or the commissions it charges restaurants consistently. Its take rates are now close to 18%. “Broadly, with our take rates, the mission is to be competitive, and we are lower than what the competition is charging. So, as we continue to add more value to restaurant businesses, we expect some improvement in commission revenue going forward,” said Goyal. But competition is heating up in the sector. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has breached the territory that was hitherto dominated by Zomato along with Swiggy. On the face of it, it might seem like restaurants might be offered better terms on ONDC. While Zomato will be able to compete with ONDC on efficiency and also even overall costs – as third party deliveries might be costlier– HSBC Global Research believes that it might flatten growth. “Estimates for food delivery revenue in the long term remain largely unchanged. Our short-term estimates change slightly as we build in a marginally slower increase in take rate,” the research firm said. In spite of short-term and long-term challenges ahead, Zomato seems to have settled into its listed company status to deliver value to investors by chasing topline growth instead of customers, with discounts.

With Zomato rallying over 25% in the past month, street looks at the road ahead

<ul><li><keyword id="830092" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zomato" source="Orion">Zomato</keyword> and <keyword id="6358977" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="swiggy" source="Orion">Swiggy</keyword> will be liable to collect <keyword id="6354679" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gst" source="Orion">GST</keyword> on online orders of food, instead of restaurants.</li><li>We don’t tax platforms like Amazon because we understand that they are marketplaces, why such difference with food aggregators, asks EY’s Bipin Sapra.</li><li>The tax loss to the government due to alleged under-reporting by food delivery aggregators is ₹2,000 crore over the past two years.</li></ul>India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced that online food delivery platforms like Zomato and Swiggy will be the ones collecting goods and services tax (GST) from customers. The tax rate stays consistent at 5% and the ruling comes into effect on January 1, 2022. Earlier, it was the responsibility of the restaurants to do the same. It did seem pretty fair though, given that restaurants were the ones actually serving the customers while these new age platforms only facilitated online ordering. But it is what it is and the tax experts are not too impressed with it. The partners of renowned law and consultancy firms agreed that taxing platforms like Zomato and Swiggy was not the right way to go about this. “Are we asking Amazon and others to pay the tax? No, because we understand that separate from where there is a buy and sell,” EY’s Bipin Sapra said, adding that food delivery platforms work in a similar manner. But before we form an opinion about it, it is important to understand what this hullabaloo is all about. ‘It’s transfer of responsibility, not an add on tax.’ A customer pays a GST of 5% on each order they place, whether for dine-in or at-home delivery. The restaurants collect this GST because it is the one providing the services/product to the customers directly. The Indian government has now decided that restaurants would not be the ones collecting the taxes on online orders accepted through apps like Zomato and Swiggy. Instead, these food aggregator businesses will be the ones doing so. “They've actually said that these electronic commerce operators would be paying the tax on behalf of restaurants that are supplying customers through their platform. It is like a transfer of responsibility. The restaurant is not required to pay that, but yes they will continue to pay the tax for the offline sales,” PwC’s Anita Rastogi said in an exclusive interaction with Business Insider. Therefore, it doesn't really have much of an implication on customers in many cases as the GST rate stays the same. In some, it does. ‘I already pay GST on order, why do I care who collects it?’ While the government of India is yet to issue further clarification on the new GST norms for Zomato and Swiggy, the current facts have actually made the platforms quite redundant. If restaurants are not supposed to collect GST on online orders, does this mean that placing an order directly from the restaurants will be cheaper than placing it through these platforms? “If I order from a dhaba [roadside restaurant] next door and there is a 5% tax that Zomato charges, but if I call him directly, I don't have to pay 5% tax... Then that brings in inefficiencies and then takes away the whole purpose of having these platforms who are pushing the smaller players to reach a bigger audience,” Chilana &amp; Chilana Law Office’s Sandeep Chilana said. Even the tax experts or the platforms themselves are not too sure about how the government plans to play it out. Both Zomato and Swiggy have <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/swiggy-zomato-reach-out-to-govt-for-clarity-on-gst/articleshow/86439373.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">reportedly</a> reached out to the government, seeking more details on the GST being levied on them. They are worried that this could lead to tax cascading (tax on tax). Abhishek Rastogi, partner at Khaitan &amp; Co, also raised similar concerns. There is one thing for sure — you will have more tax on your plate now. Earlier, restaurants below certain thresholds were exempted from paying GST on online or dine-in orders. Thanks to the new policies, even those restaurants would be under the tax next and ordering from your nearest dhaba will get more expensive. ‘This is precisely why the government took this up’ Despite the increase in online ordering, the government of India has not been able to fill up its treasury at the same rate. “These restaurants were required to take the GST and pay the tax to the government, but somewhere down the line — through technology, artificial intelligence, etc — many of the restaurants are not paying this particular tax to the government,” Rastogi said. As per the <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/5-gst-on-food-delivery-apps-fuel-to-stay-out-of-ambit-key-decisions-121091701376_1.html">estimates</a>, the tax loss to government due to alleged under-reporting by food delivery aggregators is ₹2,000 crore over the past two years. ‘But is there any way out?’ “The simplest solution which can be implemented as soon as possible was tax collected at source (TCS),” Rastogi added. Tax collected at source (TCS) is the tax payable by a seller, which he collects from the buyer at the time of sale. Platforms like Zomato and Swiggy are liable to pay TCS of 1%, which highlights that the government had already taken cognisance of the issue. The experts agree that increasing the TCS was a much simpler and faster way to go about things here, instead of introducing a new tax altogether. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/south-koreas-crypto-regulations-are-tightening-around-investors-and-exchanges-alike/articleshow/86426452.cms">South Korea’s crypto regulations are tightening around investors and exchanges alike</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/paras-defence-and-space-technologies-ipo-gets-blockbuster-demand-from-investors/articleshow/86422668.cms">Paras Defence and Space Technologies IPO gets blockbuster demand from investor</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/experts-say-karnatakas-ban-on-games-of-chance-like-dream11-and-mpl-may-face-a-legal-test/articleshow/86419697.cms">Experts say Karnataka’s ban on games of chance like Dream11 and MPL may face a legal test</a>

India needs to review how it wants to extract tax from Zomato and Swiggy

<ul><li>Zomato has ceased operations in 225 smaller cities as their performance was ‘not very encouraging’ in the past few quarters.</li><li>Analysts at ICICI Securities said that the exit in these cities “indicates disenchantment with a long tail of sub-scale operations.”</li><li>The management said that although the demand environment remains challenging, they are seeing green shoots of demand coming back in the recent weeks.</li><li>Analysts say that the relaunch of <keyword id="4299597" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zomato-gold" source="Orion">Zomato Gold</keyword> in January will boost business.</li></ul>Food delivery platform Zomato has ceased operations in 225 smaller cities as their performance was ‘not very encouraging’ in the past few quarters. This comes as the company reported a widening of losses in the October-December quarter. These cities contributed 0.3% to Zomato’s gross order value (GOV) in Q3FY23. The company said that, “Performance of these cities was not very encouraging in the past few quarters and we did not feel the payback period on our investments in these cities was acceptable.” Analysts at ICICI Securities said that the exit in these cities “indicates disenchantment with a long tail of sub-scale operations.” While the new-age company disappointed investors with more losses this quarter, the management said that although the demand environment remains challenging, they are seeing green shoots of demand coming back in recent weeks. The company believes that the worst may be behind it. “We believe that the long-term opportunity remains large and exciting. We think that the current slowdown is a result of a few temporary factors – a) macro slowdown for the mid-market segment, b) boom in dining out for the premium-end, and c) boom in travel at the premium-end,” said the company in an exchange filing. Zomato posted a loss of ₹347 crore in Q3 FY23 as compared to ₹63 crore loss in the same quarter last year. However, consolidated revenue from operations for the quarter surged 75% on year to ₹1,948 crore. Adding to it, this was the first quarter with consolidation of the grocery business Blinkit. The company informed exchanges that excluding the Blinkit business, Zomato turned positive at the EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) level in January even as the food delivery business witnessed a slowdown. ‘Relaunch of Zomato Gold to boost growth’ Zomato relaunched its membership programme, Zomato Gold in late January. This programme has been built on the lessons learned from the programme’s previous avatar and after taking in feedback from customers, restaurant partners, as well as investors. Analysts at Nuvama Institutional Equities said that the prospects for Zomato’s business going ahead remain bright while it assigned a ‘Buy’ on the stocks. “We believe that Zomato Gold’s relaunch will be a big boost to growth. Adj. EBITDA of ₹230 million (vs. ₹20 million in Q2FY23) in food delivery, despite flattish QoQ GOV growth is a big plus and we remain confident of the company’s ability to generate cash,” said the brokerage firm in a report. "We expect this programme to drive loyalty and higher frequency of ordering going forward, and in less than a month, the Zomato Gold programme has scaled to 900k+ members," said the company. Most brokerage houses have maintained a ‘Buy’ rating on the company’s stock. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Brokerages </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Rating </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Target price </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Jefferies </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Maintains Buy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹100 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Morgan Stanley </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Maintains Overweight </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹82 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Goldman Sachs </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Maintains Buy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹100 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">CLSA </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Maintains Buy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹70 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Citigroup </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Maintains Buy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹76 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Nomura </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Maintains Reduce </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹50 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">ICICI Securities </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Upgrade to Hold from Buy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹54 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Nuvama Institutional Equities </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Buy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹74 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Kotak Institutional Equities </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Retains Buy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹82 </td></tr></tbody></table> Analysts believe Zomato may clock profitability as soon as by the end of the current financial year. “Zomato’s road to profitability has grown even more promising. Zomato (ex-quick commerce) clocked adj. EBITDA level profitability in the month of Jan-23. Depending on execution-related wins, the company (ex of quick commerce) may clock profitability in Q4FY23 itself, two quarters ahead of their guidance,” said a report by Nuvama Institutional Equities. Further, Zomato is planning to remodel the Zomato Instant service to focus on offering customers home-style cooked meals at affordable prices (to be called Zomato Everyday). “We believe that this is a large opportunity in a market like India and is relatively untapped currently. We plan to launch this soon in the next few weeks,” said the company. Shares of the company have dropped nearly 26% in the last three months. The stock price of Zomato was down 2.41% at ₹50.55 on February 14. <div type="image" title="zomato 3 mo" height="900" width="1200" msid="97907107" hostid="261" sizebytes="10362"></div> SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/nykaas-stock-plunges-4-2-after-its-q3-net-profit-slips-70/articleshow/97901748.cms">Nykaa’s stock plunges 4.2% after its Q3 net profit slips 70%</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/gursaurabh-singh-asked-the-sharks-to-give-100-hours-of-their-time-for-0-5-equity/articleshow/97902173.cms">Startup that wants to give an EV twist to regular cycles seeks Sharks' time not money</a>

No long-tail effect: Zomato banks on demand recovery in future, even as it shuts operations in 225 cities on poor performance

<ul><li>Income tax department is conducting searches at Mankind Pharma’s premises in Delhi, checking documents, and questioning people.</li><li>Mankind Pharma has been in the news since its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/condom-maker-mankind-pharma-lists-at-20-premium-beats-grey-market-expectations/articleshow/100090002.cms">stellar debut on Tuesday </a>with 20% listing gains.</li><li>The company is known for products like MANforce condoms, Prega News pregnancy detection kits and Gas-o-Fast sachets.</li></ul>The Income Tax department on Thursday conducted searches on the premises of Mankind Pharma over allegations of tax evasion, official sources said. A PTI report said that searches are being conducted on the company premises in Delhi and nearby locations, documents are being checked and people are being questioned as part of the action launched early this morning. E-mail and queries sent by PTI to the company remained unanswered. Mankind Pharma recently went public, to raise ₹4,326 crore. The initial public offer was a complete offer for sale and its promoters received the proceeds from the share sale. Added to that, its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/condom-maker-mankind-pharma-lists-at-20-premium-beats-grey-market-expectations/articleshow/100090002.cms">stock listed at a 22% premium</a> on May 9, and the company’s marketcap stands at ₹56,108 crore as of Thursday. The pharma company also entered the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/mankind-pharma-debuts-in-top-100-as-per-market-value-after-a-stellar-listing/articleshow/100123765.cms">top 100 companies club </a>on its debut day. On Thursday, it ranks at 90 in terms of largest listed companies in India, leaving behind the likes of Punjab National Bank, Hero MotoCorp, UPL, Indian Hotels and Zomato. Analysts say that the stock may continue to do well going ahead, backed by strong fundamentals. “Given its healthy financial track record, domestic focus and extensive network, Mankind is likely to continue doing well,” Hemang Jani, Head of Equity Strategy, Motilal Oswal Financial Services. “Moreover the healthcare sector was a laggard over the last one year but started seeing traction over the last two months as the monthly pharma data showed improvement,” added Jani. Macquarie Research has initiated coverage on the company with an ‘Outperform’ rating and a target price of ₹1,400. The brokerage believes that Mankind Pharma is at a discounted valuation than its peers — Abbott India, GSK India and Pfizer India. “We believe the company’s net profit could double (&gt;2x) in the next three years, driven by: a) continued sales outperformance relative to Indian pharma market (IPM), b) mix shift towards chronic therapies, and c) unlocking of meaningful operating leverage as salesforce productivity improves,” said the brokerage firm. The company’s stock has been falling after the listing day amid volatile market conditions. Today, the stock is down nearly 2% at 1,356. Incorporated in 1991, Mankind Pharma is engaged in developing, manufacturing and marketing a diverse range of pharmaceutical formulations across various acute and chronic therapeutic areas, as well as several consumer healthcare products. Its product portfolio includes MANforce condoms, Prega News pregnancy detection kits and Gas-o-Fast sachets. The company said that it’s looking to acquire brands and diversify its therapeutic portfolio to facilitate entry into new markets. (With inputs from PTI) SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/lt-q4-net-profit-rises-10-to-3987-crore-cautiously-optimistic-about-fy24/articleshow/100137513.cms">L&amp;T Q4 net profit rises 10% to ₹3,987 crore, cautiously optimistic about FY24</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/ipl-2023-scores-over-1300-crore-video-views-on-jiocinema-in-the-first-five-weeks/articleshow/100155165.cms">IPL 2023 scores over 1,300 crore video views on JioCinema in the first five weeks</a>

Income Tax department raids freshly listed Mankind Pharma’s premises over alleged tax evasion

<ul><li><keyword id="830092" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zomato" source="Orion">Zomato</keyword> has been subjected to a lot of criticism after a social media user pointed out that the same food when ordered online from a restaurant cost much more than when it was ordered offline.</li><li>A Linkedin user shared photos of two bills of the same restaurant — one generated for an offline order and the other for an online order placed from Zomato.</li><li>It is a common practice for restaurants to increase their prices on Zomato and <keyword id="6358977" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="swiggy" source="Orion">Swiggy</keyword> to ensure that they are not paying for the commissions.</li></ul>Zomato has come under a lot of fire after a social media user pointed out that the same food, when ordered online from a restaurant, cost much higher than when it was ordered offline. The restaurant aggregator and food delivery company has clarified that it has nothing to do with the prices offered by restaurants. Zomato says its job is limited to presenting the restaurant as an option to order from and enabling delivery. The additional price being charged by the restaurant was for the convenience of a warm meal delivered at the customer’s doorstep. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Here’s what happened:" comment="subhead" text="Here’s what happened:">Here’s what happened:</cmsannotation> A Linkedin user shared photos of two bills from the same restaurant — one generated for an offline order and the other for an online order placed from Zomato. The same dishes were priced differently on both the bills. While the offline purchase cost ₹512 including all taxes, the online food cost the customer ₹689, after a ₹75 discount. <div type="image" title="This is why it costs more to order online on Zomato and Swiggy than to dine-in" msid="92798799" hostid="261" sizebytes="50818"></div> The food was 35% more expensive online. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Why the difference in the bills?" comment="subhead" text="Why the difference in the bills?">Why the difference in the bills?</cmsannotation> Food delivery businesses like Zomato and Swiggy charge a certain commission — usually ranging between 24%-28% of the order value — from the restaurants that are receiving the orders. This is just the commission for generating business for the restaurant partner, and excludes charges for enabling delivery. Zomato and Swiggy charge the restaurants extra for allocating their own delivery partners to fulfill the order, although the delivery charges are also paid by the customers. While some restaurants opt for their own delivery partners, others choose to go with the option provided by the third-party app. It is a common practice for restaurants to increase their prices on third-party apps like Zomato and Swiggy to ensure they do not pay for the commission. Over the last two years, several restaurants have started accepting orders through their own apps and websites to save on these commissions and provide better offers to their customers. The food delivery companies also charge a certain premium from restaurants for discoverability of their restaurants, placement on the app and other promotional activities. This advertising cost is different for each restaurant based on their negotiated terms with Zomato and Swiggy. Such advertisement charges are also common on other e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, to promote certain sellers. “We charge our restaurant partner commissions based on an agreed-upon rate. We remit to the restaurant partner a net amount equal to the cost of food ordered and packaging charges, less the commission and any restaurant-funded discounts. Separately, the restaurant partner may pay us for any food delivery- related advertisement on the platform,” Zomato had said in its red herring prospectus, before going public last year. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The issue of discounts" comment="subhead" text="The issue of discounts">The issue of discounts</cmsannotation> Zomato has shared the nitty-gritties of its business model in its red herring prospectus. The company has two types of discounts — the platform-funded discounts and the restaurant-funded discounts. The restaurant-funded ones as the name suggests are given by the restaurant that has taken the order from the customer while the platform-funded discounts are offered by Zomato. Swiggy works on similar lines. Both these platforms faced a lot of criticism from restaurant partners back in 2019 for their deep discounting practices, which forced these companies to decrease their discounts to an extent. “Once we have been able to establish a robust brand presence and achieve a high share of satisfied customers in a particular market, we are typically in a position to decrease marketing expenses on a per-order basis… As a percentage of total income, our advertisement and sales promotion expenses decreased from 88.43% in fiscal 2019 to 24.88% in fiscal 2021,” Zomato noted. And thus, as these discounts reduce, the food ordered online gets more expensive. SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/retail/news/dmart-gets-it-mojo-back-from-monsoons-and-school-going-children/articleshow/92796927.cms">Unlockdowned - DMart gets it mojo back from monsoons and school-going children</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/indias-most-wanted-borrower-vijay-mallya-gets-sentenced-to-4-months-in-jail/articleshow/92797349.cms">India's most wanted borrower Vijay Mallya gets sentenced to 4 months in jail</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/india-will-surpass-china-to-become-most-populous-country-by-2023-says-un/articleshow/92796379.cms">India will surpass China to become 'most populous country' by 2023, says UN</a>

You Searched For "zomato tax" and got 9 results

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India needs to review how it wants to extract tax from Zomato and Swiggy

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