Did you know that there are hidden costs when ordering food on Swiggy? Yes. When we order food on Swiggy, we usually have the option to pay a fixed price or a fee per kilometer. Sounds fair, right?
But what you probably didn’t know is that under the ‘fee per km’, there is a rider which states that if you cancel your order, you will be charged anywhere between Rs 50 and Rs 100 as a cancellation fee. This can be quite frustrating for users who might not like something about the food once it arrives or if they change their mind about eating it for any number of other reasons.
So how do you avoid the cancellation fee and what are the ways in which you can do so without fearing any negative impact from Swiggy? Let’s find out:
What does Swiggy’s cancellation policy look like?
The cancellation policy on Swiggy is not very complicated but it can be quite frustrating for customers when they are unaware of the guidelines.
Here’s how it works: If you order food via the Swiggy app and choose a cancellation fee of Rs 50 per km, then you will be charged Rs 50 if you cancel the order after it has been accepted.
However, in case your order has been accepted and you cancel it before the food has been delivered, you will have to pay a cancellation fee of Rs 100 per km. In other words, if you have ordered via the Swiggy app, you will be charged the cancellation fee specified in your order (i.e. a fee of Rs 100 per km) if you cancel the order before the food has been delivered. Once the food has been delivered and if you decide to cancel the order, you will have to pay a cancellation fee of Rs 100 per km as well.
How to avoid the cancellation fee on Swiggy
As we have mentioned above, the only way to avoid the cancellation fee on Swiggy is by cancelling your order before the food has been delivered.
However, there are a few other ways in which you can reduce the risk of having to pay a cancellation fee on Swiggy.
For example, if you order food early, you will be less likely to incur a cancellation fee. Why? Because if your order is accepted and then cancelled before it is delivered, there is a greater chance that the food will still be available for other customers to order since it will not have been cooked yet.
Similarly, if you order via Editions, there is a lesser chance of incurring a cancellation fee and you can avoid it altogether by paying for Editions using your credit card and cancelling the order before it is delivered.
You can avoid the Swiggy cancellation fee by ordering early
This is similar to the way in which you can avoid the cancellation fee by ordering via Editions. The earlier you order food, the more likely it is that the food will be available for other customers to order.
Hence, if you cancel your order before it is delivered (and before it has been prepared), there is a greater chance that the restaurant will still have the food available for other customers.
If you have ordered food via the Swiggy app, there is a greater chance that it will be accepted as a cancellation. This is because the app has a ‘cancel order’ button that is not present on the website. Therefore, if your order is accepted via the app and you cancel it before it is delivered, there is a greater chance that the restaurant will still have the food available for other customers. Earlier orders are more likely to be cancelled than later ones.
You can also avoid the Swiggy cancellation fee by using cash-back offers
If you are not particularly fond of the idea of ordering early or paying with your credit card to avoid the cancellation fee, then you can also use cash-back offers.
Swiggy has a tie-up with BigSpenders and Paytm. Using these apps, you can claim cash-back on every order that you place on Swiggy. Moreover, the cash-back is available on the cancellation fee as well. This means that if you order food on Swiggy and select cash-back via BigSpenders or Paytm, you will be charged a discounted amount on your cancellation fee.
For example, if you order food on Swiggy and pay via BigSpenders, you can get as much as 25% cashback on the cancellation fee. Similarly, if you order food on Swiggy and pay via Paytm, you can get 10% cashback on the cancellation fee.
Finally, you can simply cancel your order without any penalty
If you have ordered food on Swiggy and the cancellation fee is proving to be a major pain for you, then we have good news for you. You can simply cancel the order without any penalty. Now this is not a foolproof method to avoid the cancellation fee because the restaurant might not be able to replace your order with another.
However, if you see that your order is not being delivered and you are yet to be charged a cancellation fee, you can simply cancel it. There is no point in keeping an order that you do not want and which you cannot use to feed yourself or your friends and family.
Similarly, if you have ordered a meal from Swiggy but are uncertain whether or not it will arrive in time, you can also cancel the order and get a partial refund. This is generally applicable for Hot and Cold food items but not for beverages.
