Food delivery costs more with surge fee

Food delivery costs more with surge fee

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

27.11.2020

Finding food was both difficult and expensive on Wednesday as eateries across the city shut early and food apps started charging bad weather fees.

“To order a dosa worth ₹80, I had to pay ₹60 surge fee,” said S Ravikumar, a resident of T Nagar.

The food apps charged at least ₹25 more, but said they were giving all that money to men who delivered the food because they had to struggle through flooded streets.

Even on these online platforms, users were left with very limited options. For instance at Maadipakkam, 54 out of the 86 food outlets were marked as unavailable for service from 6pm.

Bachelors residing at paying guest (PG) accommodations and mansions, particularly those residing along Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) and Triplicane had a tough time getting food.

Hoteliers complain that since it was also a public holiday, they did little business. Hafeez, who runs a private restaurant at Thilai Ganga Nagar said, “Since morning, only 30 people came for breakfast. For this, I had to pay ₹2,000 for the cook, servers and electricity”.

The frequent powercuts too made food preparation very difficult in the evening, said Hafeez, who wound up his business after 6 pm. However, tea shops in the city were largely functional throughout the day and attracted a decent crowd.

In some areas such as Nanganallur and Guindy, volunteers and NGOs distributed free food at doorsteps of those, who found it difficult to find food.