A user using the Zomato app. Credit: Avijit Sadhu via Shutterstock.

Zomato, an Indian food delivery company, is testing a new priority delivery service that promises faster delivery times for an extra charge, MoneyControl has reported.

This feature is being trialled in key cities such as Bengaluru and Mumbai, offering customers the option to expedite their orders for a fee.

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The company is yet to officially launch this feature and publicly announce the same.

In Bengaluru, for instance, a customer was given the option to pay Rs29 ($0.34) extra to receive the order within 16-21 minutes, up from the standard 21-minute delivery time.

This additional charge applies to all customers, including Zomato Gold members who are part of the company’s loyalty programme.

The introduction of the priority delivery service comes alongside Zomato’s decision to increase its platform fee by 25%, now adding Rs5 to each order.

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This fee affects consumers in major urban markets, including Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Lucknow.

The platform fee, which is separate from the delivery fee, was initially set at Rs2 in August 2023 and has seen incremental rises since.

Zomato’s competitor, Swiggy, has already implemented an Rs5 platform fee, with some customers reporting charges as high as Rs10.

This fixed charge is applied to every order, regardless of the total amount, and must be paid even by Zomato Gold members.

In addition to these changes, the food delivery company is revising its intercity delivery service, known as Legends.

Launched in 2022, it aimed to deliver food the next day from select cities but encountered issues due to a shift in its delivery strategy involving prestocked items.

The company is now considering expanding Legends for longer intracity deliveries and potentially international services, although these plans are on hold.