How to Stop Paying Swiggy & Zomato Commission on Dine-In Orders

Swiggy and Zomato's commission model is designed around delivery. When a customer places a delivery order through the Swiggy or Zomato app, the platform typically charges the restaurant between 18% and 30% of the order value as a platform fee. This commission funds their rider network, marketing, and ranking algorithms.

Dine-in orders that go through your own POS or QR ordering system carry zero Swiggy or Zomato commission — because those platforms are not involved in the transaction at all. The confusion arises in two common scenarios.

First: some restaurant owners use Swiggy Dineout or Zomato Dining programs for in-restaurant bill payments or to offer discounts through the app. These programs do carry their own fee structures and may require offering discounts funded partly by the restaurant. If you accept Swiggy/Zomato-branded payments at your table, you are opting into their fee model for those transactions.

Second: if a customer walks in and places their dine-in order through the Swiggy app's 'dine-in' feature (where it exists), that order may be routed through Swiggy's platform, attracting platform fees. Many restaurant owners don't realise this is happening until they review their monthly settlement statements.

The fix is straightforward: ensure all dine-in orders are captured through your own QR ordering system. When guests scan your table QR code and order directly through Restrofi, Swiggy and Zomato are not in the loop — and they have no basis to charge any commission.

A direct QR ordering system works by printing a unique QR code for each table in your restaurant. When a guest scans the code with any smartphone camera, they see your digital menu in their browser — no app download required. They browse, customise their order, and submit it directly. The order appears on your Kitchen Display System in real time.

No third party sits between your customer and your kitchen. Payment is collected directly by you — via UPI, card, or cash — with no per-order fee or commission to any aggregator. The monthly subscription fee to the QR platform is your only software cost.

For a restaurant doing 200 dine-in covers per month at an average order value of ₹600, switching from a 20% aggregator dine-in model to direct QR ordering saves approximately ₹24,000 per month — 24× the cost of a ₹999/month QR platform subscription.

Not all QR ordering platforms are equal. Here are the features that matter for Indian restaurants:

• GST-compliant invoicing — auto-generates CGST/SGST on every bill with your GSTIN and sequential numbering. This is legally mandatory for registered restaurants.
• Kitchen Display System (KDS) — orders appear on the kitchen screen the moment they are placed, eliminating handwritten KOTs and the errors that come with them.
• WhatsApp order notifications — guests receive order confirmation and ready alerts via WhatsApp, the most-used messaging app in India.
• No hardware dependency — runs on any smartphone, tablet, or laptop you already own. No proprietary POS terminal purchase required.
• UPI and card payment integration — Indian diners expect to pay by UPI; the platform should support it natively without a payment gateway setup overhead.
• Multi-table management — ability to assign orders to specific tables, track bill status, and split or merge bills.

Watch out for platforms that advertise 'zero commission' but charge a per-order transaction fee. A 1% transaction fee on a ₹600 order adds up to ₹6 per cover — more than a flat monthly subscription over 200 covers.

Restrofi is a zero-commission QR ordering and restaurant management platform built specifically for Indian restaurants. The Starter plan costs ₹999/month and includes QR ordering, a browser-based Kitchen Display System, GST-compliant invoicing with CGST/SGST auto-calculation, and WhatsApp order notifications.

There are no per-order fees, no transaction commissions, and no hardware to buy. Your existing smartphones, tablets, or any smart TV can act as the KDS. QR codes are generated in the dashboard and can be printed on any printer.

Most restaurants are live within 30 minutes of signing up: build your menu, generate table QR codes, and print them. Restrofi works alongside your existing Swiggy/Zomato delivery listings — you keep aggregators for delivery and use Restrofi for all in-house revenue with zero commission.