High commissions by Swiggy, Zomato have restaurants turning to alternatives

New players like Thrive and DotPe, which charge less, are emerging as alternatives

Tired of rising commissions, Nitin Chadha, co-owner of Madison & Pike, decided to sever ties with Zomato and Swiggy. When the Gurugram-based café had tied up with these food aggregators some five years ago, the commission was around 12 per cent. “It went up to 20-odd per cent in 2019 and to 25 per cent a year later. That’s when we decided to pull the plug; it was not sustainable for our business,” says Chadha.

Madison & Pike, instead, turned to Mumbai-based start-up Thrive, which provides third-party delivery services to restaurants at a much lower commission – three to five