Swiggy starts rolling back fee waivers on Instamart

SWIGGY HAS BEGUN reversing its fee waiver campaign on Instamart, reinstating handling charges on all orders and tying surge fee waivers to its subscription programme, weeks after its management admitted the experiment showed “limited adoption and retention”.

- ANEES HUSSAIN

The changes, visible on the app, marks a retreat from the aggressive discounting war in quick commerce that Zepto kicked off late last year by waiving handling, delivery and surge charges for orders above ₹99, While it recently raised the free delivery threshold to ₹149, handling fees remain waived regardless of cart value.

Swiggy had immediately responded with its own fee waiver campaign eliminating all customer facing charges for orders above ₹299. But unlike Zepto, which has maintained its handling fee waiver, Swiggy has now reinstated the charge.