Zomato loophole allows ₹40 roti trick

X user ValueWithPrem posted on May 24 that some Zomato customers were placing a minimal order on the app — such as a ₹40 roti — and then calling the restaurant to add a much larger meal to the same delivery. The post said the added food, which it described as roughly ₹1,200 of paneer, dal and other dishes, was paid to the restaurant directly through UPI rather than through Zomato. The claim spread on social media and prompted debate over whether customers and restaurants were using a gap in the ordering flow to avoid platform fees. Zomato’s publicly available policy pages show how the company defines orders, customer payments and restaurant service fees, but they do not appear to spell out this specific scenario. ### How does the ₹40 roti method supposedly work? ValueWithPrem’s May 24 post described a two-step process. A customer first places a small order on Zomato so that a delivery can be created, then calls the restaurant directly and asks it to pack a larger meal with that order, according to the post. The customer then pays the restaurant directly for the extra items, the post said. (zomato.com) The social post said restaurants “love” the arrangement because they keep the full margin on the off-app portion instead of paying Zomato’s fee on the full basket. Reuters could not independently verify how widespread the practice is or how many restaurants allow it. ### What do Zomato’s terms say about orders and payments? Zomato’s online-ordering terms say the “Customer Application” enables customers to place an order with a restaurant partner, track its status and make payment “towards the Restaurant Services availed from the Restaurant Partner.” The same terms define “service fee (formerly known as Commission)” as the amount payable by the restaurant partner to Zomato, as set out in the enrolment form. (accounts.zomato.com) Zomato’s customer terms, last updated on February 19, 2026, say users of the platform enter a legally binding contract with Eternal Limited, formerly known as Zomato Limited, and its affiliates. Those terms govern access to and use of the Zomato platform, though the excerpts publicly surfaced in search results do not describe a rule for restaurants adding unpaid off-app items to an in-flight delivery order. (zomato.com) ### Why are restaurants part of the discussion? Zomato’s restaurant-partner terms make clear that the company charges a service fee on orders placed through the platform. That is why the viral post framed the workaround as attractive to restaurants: if part of the meal is shifted outside the app, the restaurant may keep that revenue without paying Zomato’s fee on that portion, according to the post’s description. (zomato.com) Third-party guides and restaurant-service blogs frequently describe Zomato commissions as a major cost line for restaurants, but those sites are not official disclosures and rates can vary by contract. Zomato’s own public terms confirm the existence of a service fee, not a single standard rate. ### Is this clearly banned in the public policy language? (zomato.com) The public policy pages reviewed on May 25 do not appear to include a clause, in the excerpts available through search, that explicitly describes the “small app order plus larger direct add-on” method. That does not mean the practice is permitted; it means the specific prohibition was not visible in the material reviewed for this story. (zomato.com) The clearest public language is structural. Zomato’s terms describe the platform as the mechanism through which customers place orders and make payment for restaurant services availed through that order, while the restaurant-partner terms define the service fee payable to Zomato. Any gap between those definitions and restaurant behavior is what social media users were urging the company to close. (zomato.com) ### What can be verified as of now? May 24 is the date of the viral X post that set off the discussion, and May 25 is the date on which Zomato’s policy pages remained publicly accessible with definitions covering customer orders, restaurant services and service fees. No public statement from Zomato addressing the specific “₹40 roti” claim appeared in the material reviewed for this story. (zomato.com) Zomato’s next visible reference point is its own policy pages, where any clarification or revised language on online ordering would likely appear first. As of May 25, the relevant documents were the online-ordering terms and the customer terms hosted on Zomato’s policy site. (zomato.com) (accounts.zomato.com)