A ₹1,000 order on an aggregator does not bring ₹1,000 to the bank. Depending on your commission slab, promotions and the week's cancellations, it brings somewhere between ₹620 and ₹780, and the statement that explains the difference arrives weekly as a spreadsheet most owners never open. This is how to read it, and which lines are worth arguing about.
The lines, in the order they appear
| Line | What it is | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Gross order value | Menu price × quantity, before any discount | Should match your POS sales for the same orders |
| Restaurant-funded discounts | Offers you agreed to pay for | Platform-funded offers must not appear here |
| Net order value | Gross minus your discounts | This is the base commission is charged on |
| Commission | Platform fee, a percentage of net order value | Rate should match your contract slab; it rises when you join promotions |
| GST on commission | 18% on the commission amount | Input tax credit is available if you are on the regular scheme |
| Ads and visibility | Sponsored listings, banners | Capped at what you set; check it is not auto-renewing |
| Cancellations and refunds | Orders refunded to the customer | Who bears it depends on the reason code |
| GST on restaurant service | Collected and paid by the platform under section 9(5) since January 2022 | You still declare the sales; the platform pays the 5% |
| Tax deducted at source | Under section 194-O on gross sales | Claim it against your income tax; it is your money |
| Payout | What reaches the bank | Three to seven days after the order week |
The three lines that leak
Commission rarely goes wrong on its own. The leaks are in the lines around it.
- Discount attribution. A platform-funded "60% off" occasionally gets booked as restaurant-funded. On a busy week this is a four-figure difference and it is reversible if you raise it within the dispute window.
- Cancellation reason codes. "Restaurant did not accept" is on you; "rider unavailable" is on the platform. Kitchens accept the order late, the rider times out, and the code says restaurant. Every one of these is worth a ticket.
- Promotions that raise the slab. Joining a visibility programme can move commission from 18% to 25% on every order, not just the promoted ones. Read the terms before the campaign manager's call ends.
Reconcile, do not reconstruct
The payout statement should be matched order by order against the POS, not total to total. Totals hide a refunded order offset by a missed one. Match by order ID, flag the ones that differ, and post the statement to the books as it is: sales at gross, commission and ads as expenses, deductions to the tax ledgers, and the payout to the bank. The difference between gross sales and the bank credit is then visible as a set of expense lines rather than a mystery in the sales figure.
If aggregator sales are booked at the amount that reached the bank, your food cost percentage is overstated by the commission rate, and every decision downstream is wrong by the same margin.Free toolAggregator payout calculatorEnter your commission slab and discount share and see what a ₹1,000 order really pays.Open →
Figures are rules of thumb or statutory rates at the time of writing; confirm anything tax-related with your CA.