Executives from Swiggy have proposed a meeting with Bengaluru’s hotel and restaurant associations on Monday, August 3, to discuss their demands, according to people aware of the matter, days after the bodies threatened to stop taking orders on the platform from August 15.
The proposed meeting will be attended by Swiggy executives and the Bangalore Hotels Association (BHA), the Karnataka State Hotels Association (KSHA), the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), KBSA and the city’s bar and restaurant associations.
The ultimatum had come in a joint statement dated July 29, signed by BHA Honorary President P C Rao, President S Subramanya Holla and Honorary Secretary Veerendra N Kamath. The associations said restaurants were being paid less than 50% of their total billed order value once deductions and accounting discrepancies were factored in, leaving several under severe financial strain.
At the centre of the dispute is advertising. The associations said Swiggy runs CPC, CPA and promoted ad campaigns without prior written or digital consent from restaurants, and deducts the cost directly from owners’ bank accounts. They have demanded a one-click opt-out for such campaigns, with no charges levied once a restaurant withdraws.
The statement also sought itemised settlement statements showing commission, GST, ad spends, offers and promotion charges separately, arguing that current disclosures make reconciliation impossible. A fourth demand objects to service charges being levied on the GST component collected from customers for onward payment to the government, a cost the associations said is being recovered from restaurants.
The associations said they had met Swiggy representatives several times and had been assured of immediate fixes, but the problems persisted. Failing a resolution, BHA, KSHA, NRAI, KBSA and the bar and restaurant associations would collectively stop transacting with Swiggy from August 15, informing customers and routing them to alternative channels, the statement said.
The threat lands as new entrants give restaurants leverage. Rapido’s Ownly, which went citywide in Bengaluru in March, currently charges restaurants zero commision, shifting delivery charges to customers. Flipkart is also reportedly working on launching food delivery.
Swiggy did not respond to requests for comment at the time of going to press.