Zomato removes rain surge waiver for Gold members

Food delivery platform Zomato has removed the rain fee surge waiver offered to Gold members amid a broader slowdown in food delivery and to focus on profitability.

A quick survey of the app revealed that Zomato will impose a surge rain fee on Gold members starting from May 16, citing that this will help compensate delivery partners fairly. The cost was previously waived as a part of Gold Membership perks, which hosts over 20 lakh members.

Zomato did not immediately respond to queries shared by YourStory. The development was first reported by Inc42.

Zomato, the food delivery arm of Eternal, has over 4.4 lakh delivery partners. During rains, these partners receive additional earnings as compensation for the extra effort involved. This added payout is partially covered by the platform for Gold users, while other customers pay a small rain surge fee ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 15.

This development comes as Eternal, in its quarterly results, reported slow growth for its food delivery business, hurt by a broader slowdown in urban demand, unavailability of delivery partners and popularity of quick commerce.

"We have a number of promising initiatives in the pipeline - hoping some of them will work and lead to higher growth, without compromising on profitability," Eternal had shared in its quarterly shareholder letter hinting at the company's key focus on bringing in growth in a profitable manner.