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Delivery times are improving and set to normalise soon as a large section of gig workers return to cities after the recent state elections and the peak harvest season, Swiggy and magicpin said. Anshoo Sharma, Founder and CEO of magicpin, told PTI the return of delivery riders is helping improve rider availability across food delivery platforms. "The delivery riders who were away from metros to cast their vote, are now back in cities. This is helping availability of riders for food delivery, and thus improving delivery times," Sharma said. He added that while temporary volatility may continue, the food delivery sector is expected to see growth after a difficult period over the last few months with an overall upside of up to 20 per cent. "To support merchants across food and other categories, magicpin has rolled out its AI assistant, Vera, which is seeing thousands of merchants adopt it everyday. Vera was launched as a response to the LPG crisis among small restaurants to manage thei
Food delivery platform Swiggy has hiked the platform fee it charges users to Rs 17.58 per order, its app showed on Tuesday, days after rival Zomato increased the charges. Swiggy had last hiked its platform fee in September last year. The company has now raised it to Rs 17.58 per order inclusive of GST, whereas rival Zomato charges Rs 14.90 on a pre-GST basis. The latest round of increase by Swiggy brings the platform fee charged by both food delivery players effectively at par with each other (to around Rs 17.58 per order). On March 20, Zomato hiked the platform fee it charges users by Rs 2.40 to Rs 14.90 per order on a pre-GST basis. Platform fees are fixed, per-order charges in addition to delivery and restaurant fees. To cover operating costs, technology maintenance, and customer support for services. The latest hike in platform fees is set to make ordering food costlier for millions of users across the country. The increase in platform fees by Zomato and Swiggy comes at a tim