Fee cut pain for delivery partners

Earnings per q-comm order drop to ₹15-27 from the earlier ₹22-30

- ANEES HUSSAIN

THE REMOVAL OF handling and surge fees by Zepto and Swiggy’s Instamart earlier this month has made quick commerce deliveries cheaper for customers but it has come at a growing cost to delivery partners. Earnings per order, which had already slipped from %34-42 in early 2024 to around 22-30 by the festive season in September, have now fallen further to between 15 and 27 in several high-density zones, according to data from multiple staffing firms.

The decline underscores how fee waivers, meant to attract customers, have intensified pressure on those making the deliveries. The platforms’ response to rising order volumes has been to increase batching, which means, combining multiple deliveries in a single run, which allows them to protect margins but leaves delivery partners with less income per order.