Bengaluru Restaurants Set August 15 Deadline for Swiggy to Resolve Payment Issues

The Bangalore Hotels Association (BHA) has warned that hotels affiliated with it and other hospitality bodies in Bengaluru will suspend business with Swiggy from August 15 if the food delivery platform fails to address concerns over payment transparency, unauthorised deductions and advertising charges.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the association said it had given Swiggy a final opportunity to resolve the issues through discussions. If no corrective action is taken before Independence Day, all affiliated associations have unanimously decided to discontinue business with the platform.

The BHA alleged that Swiggy deducts advertisement and promotional charges without obtaining written or digital consent before enrolling restaurants in cost-per-click (CPC), cost-per-acquisition (CPA) or promoted advertisement campaigns. It has demanded a one-click opt-out option and greater transparency in payment statements, with separate disclosure of commission, GST, advertising, promotional and other charges.

The association also objected to service charges being levied on the GST amount collected from customers. According to BHA, multiple deductions and accounting discrepancies have left some restaurants receiving less than 50 per cent of the billed order value. BHA honorary president P C Rao said the association does not oppose Swiggy's service fee but objects to additional deductions such as payout, advertisement and mark-up charges allegedly imposed without consent. He claimed some restaurants expecting payouts of ₹1 lakh received only ₹40,000–₹50,000.

Rao said the association would continue working with Swiggy if the issues were resolved before August 15, while ensuring customers are not inconvenienced if a boycott becomes necessary.

The dispute reflects broader challenges in India's food delivery ecosystem, where restaurant bodies have repeatedly raised concerns over high commissions, opaque pricing, mandatory promotions and unilateral policy changes. Aggregators, meanwhile, argue that such charges support logistics, technology and customer acquisition in a highly competitive market.

Swiggy had not issued an immediate response to the allegations at the time of publication.