After Zomato and Swiggy, Flipkart quietly starts charging a Rs 3 platform fee on orders

After Zomato and Swiggy, Walmart-owned e-commerce giant Flipkart has quietly started charging a platform fee of Rs 3 on orders.

The fee applies to online payments and cash-on-delivery (COD) orders, regardless of whether the customer is part of the Flipkart Plus program. 

The new charge is visible on the Flipkart mobile app and website, applying to orders up to Rs 10,000.

Fee not applicable to Grocery, Cleartrip

It's worth noting that the Rs 3 platform fee does not apply to Flipkart Grocery and its travel vertical, Cleartrip.

However, it is already in place on Flipkart's fashion vertical, Myntra, and its quick commerce arm, Flipkart Minutes, which imposes a slightly higher fee of Rs 20 and Rs 5, respectively. 

The company states that the platform fee helps sustain efficient operations and continuous improvement of the platform. 

The move aligns Flipkart with other quick commerce players like Swiggy’s Instamart, Zomato’s Blinkit, and Zepto, which also charge handling fees ranging from Rs 4 to Rs 9.99.

Does Amazon charge a platform fee?

While Amazon currently does not charge a platform fee, it wouldn’t be surprising if it eventually did, as its primary competitor, Flipkart, has already implemented such a fee.

Notably, local quick commerce platforms, which are expanding into various product categories beyond their primary focus on groceries, are becoming a growing concern for established players like Amazon and Flipkart.

For example, Zomato-owned Blinkit delivers small electronic appliances in just 10-15 minutes.

The rapid growth of these platforms is prompting established ecommerce players to consider entering the quick commerce segment.