Survey flags service lapses, pricing gaps and safety concerns across platforms
More than half of India’s food delivery app users received damaged, spilled or distorted food at least once in the past year, while a majority believe they are charged higher prices online than at restaurants, according to a nationwide consumer survey, highlighting persistent service and pricing concerns in the sector.
LocalCircles survey found that 56 per cent of respondents experienced food damage due to poor handling by delivery agents during the last year. About 11 per cent said such incidents occurred in more than half of their orders, while another 23 per cent faced the problem in 10–50 per cent of deliveries. Only 36 per cent said they had not encountered any such issues.
Pricing emerged as a major grievance, with 55 per cent of consumers saying food prices on apps were higher than those charged by restaurants for dine-in or takeaway. Overall, three in four respondents flagged higher menu prices, along with taxes and additional platform charges, as their top concerns when ordering through food aggregators.
The findings come amid heightened scrutiny of food delivery platforms following recent nationwide protests by gig and platform workers over low pay, unsafe delivery targets and lack of social security. While platforms rolled out higher incentives during peak demand periods to limit service disruption, consumer-facing issues around pricing transparency and service quality remain unresolved.
Discount benefits were uneven. Only one-third of respondents said they were able to avail restaurant or bank-linked discounts on most of their orders, while nearly half reported limited benefit from discounts over the past year. Meanwhile, 37 per cent said they had at least one instance where the total amount charged by the platform was lower than the restaurant bill included with the food.
Food safety and packaging concerns were widespread. More than 95 per cent of respondents reported at least one complaint related to food quality or packaging, including stale food, unsafe containers and poor temperature control during delivery. Unsafe packaging alone was cited by over a quarter of respondents.
Official data also point to rising grievances. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, the government said the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) received over 21,000 complaints related to food sold through ecommerce platforms over the past five financial years. Separately, more than 7,000 consumer grievances against food delivery apps were registered in 2024–25, reflecting sustained dissatisfaction.
Consumers have also demanded greater transparency, with 87 per cent of survey respondents saying food delivery platforms should be mandated to display both dine-in or pickup prices and online delivery prices for the same items.
The survey, conducted on the LocalCircles platform, received over 79,000 responses from consumers across 359 districts. About 75 per cent of respondents said they use food delivery apps, most commonly one to five times a month.
India’s online food delivery market, valued at around USD 31.8 billion in 2024, is projected to expand rapidly as platforms deepen their presence beyond metros. However, growing consumer complaints, regulatory scrutiny and labour unrest suggest that improvements in scale have yet to translate into better consumer experience.
