Swiggy and Zomato dine-in discounts are a concern for NRAI.

The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) on Friday warned its partner-members against initiatives being trialled by Swiggy and Zomato offering discounts and promotions on dine-in orders in what may end up being another dispute between restaurants and food aggregators.

Two new discount-driven features, Zomato Pay and Swiggy Diner, are being launched with offers of a variety of perks to diners, at the expense of eateries, the NRAI alleged in a warning on Friday.

Restaurants must compelively provide a discount of 15–40% and pay a fee of 4–12% on each transaction made through the appropriate payment gateways to Zomato or Swiggy in order to participate in the programme. Restaurants are promised increased foot traffic in exchange.

The NRAI issued a warning that these systems may eventually have an effect on the entire restaurant environment. According to NRAI, "both of them build a payment gateway (Zomato Pay/Swiggy Diner), incentivize our customers to use this payment gateway (through discounts, 100% cash backs, and bank offers), and encourage partner restaurants to adopt this payment gateway under the implausible promise of increased foot traffic."

The item offers nothing "concrete." "the industry's urgent concerns, according to the NRAI, the organisation that represents restaurants. In reality, it stated that the initiatives will aid Swiggy and Zomato in establishing a "strong presence." "it added, in the dine-in industry.

Restaurants in Hyderabad are being contacted by Zomato and Swiggy as part of the program's test. Zomato's new dinner service, which has been operating in Hyderabad for a few weeks, is generating "excellent results," according to a company representative.

"We are certain that we will significantly advance the market and the sector. We are eager to collaborate with forward-thinking eateries in the sector, the spokeswoman continued.

The Zomato app includes a payment option called Zomato Pay. Customers have the option to use the function to pay their bill and open offers like cash-backs and discounts.

Swiggy made no comments regarding the situation. But in May, the aggregator purchased Times Internet's Dineout platform for restaurant technology solutions. "Swiggy will increase the overlap between its services and those of Dineout, such as events and table reservations for dining out. Restaurant partners will eventually be able to expand their consumer base and revenue, it was stated at the time.

The strongly worded advisory from NRAI, which has previously urged for levelling the playing field with aggregators, raises the prospect of further escalating hostilities between aggregators and top restaurant chains.

The Competition Commission of India was contacted by NRAI last year with evidence supporting claims of anti-competitive behaviour by food aggregators, including data masking and charging exorbitant commissions. "There is nothing that can prohibit Zomato and Swiggy from raising their minimum discounts and per-transaction commissions once that occurs. The cash-backs to the consumers are now funded, but that might change at any time, it said on Friday.