A controversy flared up on Thursday as numerous social media users leveled allegations of overpricing against Swiggy. Nevertheless, the prominent foodtech company asserted that no customer had been subjected to overcharges and attributed the problem to a technical glitch.
“We confirm no customers have been overcharged and they have paid the correct amount. This was due to a tech bug, which we have fixed. We continue to deliver thousands of orders every minute to our customers,” a Swiggy spokesperson said.
The issue came to attention when a user posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) to report that Swiggy had levied an extra INR 3 during their food order through the app.
Deepak Shenoy, the Founder and CEO of the wealth management startup Capitalmind, also brought attention to the identical problem. He pointed out that although his bill amounted to INR 255.6, he was provided with a bill of INR 259.
Meanwhile, numerous other users went online to voice their concerns, denouncing the incident as a contemporary form of fraud.
Amidst the uproar, Swiggy issued a clarification stating that the order history page of users displayed incorrect discount amounts due to the technical bug. The company further assured that customers had paid the accurate amounts during the checkout process and were not subjected to overcharges.
“Some users may note incorrect discount amounts in their order history page. However, users have actually paid as per the prescribed discount amount during the checkout. Customers have paid the correct amount. This discrepancy in order history and actual paid value is due to a tech bug which our teams have fixed,” said Swiggy on X.
Even Shenoy later acknowledged that the problem “might just be” a display error, as the platform fee of INR 5 was discounted to INR 2 in his bill, thus explaining the remaining amount.
In the midst of this, users also expressed apprehensions regarding the rounding-off mechanism employed by the foodtech platform. In response, the company explained that it “rounded off the billed amount to the nearest whole amount as per the directives from the RBI to minimize any inconvenience to the public and to align with the established banking industry practice.”
The matter arises at a juncture when both Swiggy and its competitor, Zomato, have recently introduced platform fees of INR 2-3 as part of their efforts to bolster their earnings and enhance their financial performance.
Read More: Swiggy implements ‘platform fee’ on all orders, users to bear the cost
Also Read: Zomato extends platform fee to wider user base, implements INR 3 charge in select cities
