Zomato replies to online vs offline price difference

New Delhi : You must have noticed that there is a price difference in the same food you order online and offline; some call it a business model and some call it a strategy to churn out more money from the customer in the name of luxury service.

In a recent incident, a Zomato user highlighted the issue on social media by posting two bills of the same food – one ordered online and the other ordered offline. The price difference was around 34 per cent even after applying the online discount coupons.

Rahul Kabra posted pictures of his food orders on Linked In. He claimed that his order, consisting of Veg black pepper sauce, vegetable fried rice, and mushroom momo, which on Zomato cost him ₹ 689 could have been purchased for ₹ 512 offline.

"I am doing an apple to apple comparison to online vs offline order. Here is what I noticed - Cost for offline order - INR 512. Cost for Zomato order - INR 690 (after applied discount of INR 75). Cost escalation 34.76% per order at INR 178 = (690-512)/512," Kabra wrote in his post. 

Zomato officially replied to the concern and claimed that the online prices are set by the restaurant owners, and they do not have any control on it.

"Zomato being an intermediary platform between a customer and a restaurant, does not have any control over the prices implemented by the restaurant partners on our platform. That said, we have conveyed your feedback to the restaurant partner and have requested them to look into this."