Short answer for India: GST treatment depends on what each line on your food-app invoice represents. Takeaway and door-delivered food are treated as restaurant service, which the current CBIC rate table lists at 5% GST (2.5% central tax plus 2.5% state or union-territory tax) without input tax credit, for restaurant service other than at specified premises. For restaurant service supplied through an e-commerce operator, the operator is responsible for paying that GST.
A separately listed delivery charge is different. The latest specific government statement located, a Ministry of Finance answer dated 1 April 2025, says the GST rate for food-delivery services connected with app orders was sent for further examination. It does not announce a final delivery-fee rate. Therefore, you should not assume that every delivery fee is taxed at 5%, 18%, or even treated the same way as the restaurant food line.
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What GST applies to a food order in India?
This answer uses “GST” in the Indian Goods and Services Tax sense. The title does not name a country, so the scope matters: the rules below are for India and should not be applied to food-delivery charges in another jurisdiction.
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India’s tax treatment separates the services represented by an app order. The food supplied by a restaurant, a platform-related charge, and a separately described delivery service may not be the same taxable supply. The name and description on the tax invoice are therefore more useful than the fact that all the lines appeared in one checkout screen.
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Restaurant food, including takeaway and door delivery
CBIC Circular No. 164/20/2021-GST explains that restaurant service includes takeaway and door delivery of food. In other words, food does not stop being restaurant service merely because you eat it at home rather than inside the premises.
CBIC’s current GST Goods and Services Rates table lists restaurant service other than at specified premises at 5% GST without input tax credit. The table expresses that as 2.5% central tax plus 2.5% state or union-territory tax. This is a stated rate for the restaurant-service category, not a promise that the same percentage applies to every fee shown on an app order.
Who pays the GST when an app is involved?
For restaurant service supplied through an e-commerce operator, CBIC Circular No. 167/23/2021-GST states that the e-commerce operator is liable to pay the GST under the cited rule. That describes the compliance responsibility between the restaurant, the operator and the government. A customer may still see tax reflected in the amount charged for the order, but the app operator’s statutory responsibility does not make every other app fee restaurant service.
Is GST charged on a separate food-delivery fee?
There is no fee-specific final rate established by the official statement cited for this question. In its Rajya Sabha answer to Unstarred Question No. 3446 on 1 April 2025, the Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, recorded that a proposal to clarify the GST rate for delivery of food in relation to orders placed on food-delivery apps had been placed before the 55th GST Council meeting on 21 December 2024. The answer says the Council recommended that the issue needed further examination.
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“A proposal to clarify the applicable rate of GST on services of delivery of food in relation to orders placed on food delivery apps like Zomato, Swiggy etc. was placed before the 55th GST Council held on 21st December, 2024. The GST Council recommended that the issue needs further examination.”
This wording is important for two reasons. First, a recommendation for further examination is not a final notification fixing a rate. Second, it concerns the delivery service connected with app orders; it does not erase the established treatment of the restaurant-food supply.
The latest specific statement located for this issue therefore supports a careful answer: a separately itemized delivery charge may carry GST according to the legal characterization and applicable clarification, but the cited official material does not establish one universal rate for every such line. Do not tell a customer that every delivery fee is definitely 5% or definitely 18% based only on the word “delivery.”
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Why some app charges may show 18% GST
The same 1 April 2025 parliamentary answer distinguishes other services provided through food apps, such as platform services, and states that those services attract 18% GST. That figure should not be transferred automatically to a line described as delivery.
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A platform fee can represent access to, or use of, an intermediary’s digital service. A delivery fee can represent a transportation or fulfilment service. The two descriptions may be treated differently, and the invoice may identify them separately. The official statement supports the 18% figure for other app services such as platform services; it does not say that every delivery charge is a platform-service charge.
| Invoice line or service | What the official material establishes | What a customer should not assume |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant food or restaurant service | Takeaway and door delivery are included in restaurant service. The current CBIC table lists 5% GST without input tax credit for restaurant service other than at specified premises; the split is 2.5% central tax plus 2.5% state or union-territory tax. | That every other line on the order is also taxed at 5%. |
| Restaurant service supplied through an e-commerce operator | The e-commerce operator is liable to pay the GST under the cited rule. | That the customer can identify the operator’s compliance treatment from the total amount alone. |
| Platform service or another separately identified app service | The 1 April 2025 Ministry of Finance answer says other app services such as platform services attract 18% GST. | That a line labelled “delivery” is automatically a platform service. |
| Separately charged food-delivery service | The delivery-rate question was referred for further examination by the 55th GST Council; the cited answer does not announce a final fee-specific rate. | That one fixed percentage applies to every app’s delivery charge or every order. |
How to read the GST section of your food-app invoice
Use the detailed tax invoice rather than the checkout total. The practical question is what supply each line describes and what tax treatment the supplier has identified.
- Open the tax invoice, not just the order summary. Look for the document’s itemized entries, taxable value, GST rate, central and state or union-territory tax amounts, and the supplier details.
- Separate the food line from service fees. Identify wording such as restaurant service, food items, platform fee, convenience fee, delivery fee, packaging, or other charges. Do not merge them simply because they were paid in one transaction.
- Check the stated rate beside each taxable line. A restaurant-service line may be shown with the 5% category described by CBIC. A platform-service line may be shown at 18% as described in the Ministry of Finance answer. A delivery line may require closer examination because the cited government statement did not settle one universal rate.
- Check whether tax is split into central and state or union-territory components. For the 5% restaurant-service category in the CBIC table, the stated split is 2.5% central tax plus 2.5% state or union-territory tax.
- Match the supplier to the charge. The restaurant and the e-commerce operator may have different roles. The invoice’s supplier name and GST details help show which entity made the supply represented by a particular line.
- Keep the invoice date with the document. Tax rules and official clarifications can change. The rates and statements described here are tied to the cited CBIC table and the Ministry of Finance answer dated 1 April 2025, with the CBIC rates table accessed on 12 October 2026.
Does the restaurant’s 5% rate mean the whole order is taxed at 5%?
No. The 5% figure belongs to the listed restaurant-service category. An app order can contain more than one supply, and the tax invoice may allocate different lines to different services. The Ministry of Finance answer specifically identifies 18% for other app services such as platform services, so an order containing a platform fee is not necessarily a single 5% supply.
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Conversely, the existence of a platform fee does not prove that a separately listed delivery fee has the same tax treatment. The invoice must show how the supplier has described and taxed each charge. A total that appears high, or a rate that looks unfamiliar, is not by itself evidence that the invoice is unlawful.
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What does “composite supply” change?
CBIC’s general FAQ gives the broad principle that a composite supply is treated as the supply of its principal component. The same FAQ also states that a service charge that is consideration for a supply is liable to GST. These principles can help explain why the legal characterization of a bundled transaction matters.
They do not, by themselves, answer the specific question of every food-app delivery fee. Whether an app’s food, platform access and delivery arrangement form one composite supply or include separately supplied services depends on the actual contract, invoice description and applicable tax clarification. The general principle should not be used as a shortcut to label every charge 5% or 18%.
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Example: food plus a clearly identified platform fee
An invoice lists restaurant food and a separate platform fee. The food line falls within the restaurant-service description addressed by CBIC, while the Ministry of Finance answer identifies platform services among the other app services attracting 18%. The two lines should be read independently; the customer’s total GST cannot be calculated from the order total without the taxable values and invoice details.
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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteExample: food plus a separately identified delivery fee
An invoice lists restaurant food and “delivery fee,” but gives no explanation beyond that label. The food line has the established restaurant-service treatment described above. The separate delivery line is the difficult part: the cited 1 April 2025 answer says the rate issue was still under further examination. Ask the supplier or app to identify the service and the legal basis for the rate shown rather than assuming either 5% or 18%.
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Example: one bundled charge with no itemization
If the receipt shows one bundled amount, request the detailed tax invoice. Without the taxable lines, supplier identity and stated rates, a customer cannot reliably determine how much GST was charged or whether a delivery component was treated separately.
Why the amount alone cannot prove an incorrect GST charge
Delivery prices vary for reasons that are not tax rates: distance, demand, location, service availability, discounts, memberships and other commercial terms can change the pre-tax charge. A customer therefore cannot reverse-engineer GST from the final rupee amount. The official material cited here provides category rates and a status update on the delivery-fee clarification, not a sample customer bill or a prescribed formula for every app invoice.
Nor should a customer treat every “fee” as a taxable service without reading the invoice. The CBIC FAQ’s principle concerns a charge that is consideration for a supply. The description, supplier and tax columns are essential to deciding what the charge represents.
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- Download the full tax invoice and preserve the order date. Screenshots of a checkout page may omit the tax breakdown.
- Ask a precise question. Request the name of the service represented by the delivery line, the supplier responsible for it, the taxable value, and the GST rate or exemption applied.
- Compare the answer with the invoice. Check whether the explanation refers to restaurant service, platform service or a separately supplied delivery service. Do not accept a generic statement that all app charges have one rate.
- Escalate with the supplier or app if the invoice is inconsistent. Provide the invoice number, date and the exact line in dispute. The official material cited here does not establish a consumer complaint procedure specific to this GST question, so the first practical step is obtaining a corrected explanation or invoice from the entity that issued it.
- Seek professional tax advice for a disputed or material amount. A qualified adviser can examine the contract, invoice and any notification in force for the transaction date. This is especially important where the charge is bundled or the supplier’s role is unclear.
What has and has not been decided
- Established in the cited CBIC material: takeaway and door delivery of food are included in restaurant service.
- Listed rate: restaurant service other than at specified premises is 5% without input tax credit, shown as 2.5% central tax plus 2.5% state or union-territory tax.
- Payment responsibility: for restaurant service supplied through an e-commerce operator, the operator is liable to pay the GST under the cited rule.
- Separately identified app services: the 1 April 2025 Ministry of Finance answer says other app services such as platform services attract 18%.
- Still not settled by the cited specific statement: one final, universal GST rate for every separately charged food-delivery service connected with an app order.
Bottom line for customers
For an Indian food-app order, the restaurant food itself is treated as restaurant service, including takeaway and door delivery, and the current CBIC table lists that category at 5% GST without input tax credit. The app operator is responsible for GST on restaurant service supplied through the e-commerce platform.
A separate delivery fee is not automatically 5% or 18%. The Ministry of Finance’s 1 April 2025 answer records that the GST Council had sent the food-app delivery-rate issue for further examination after its 21 December 2024 meeting. Read the tax invoice line by line, keep platform and delivery charges distinct, and ask the supplier to explain any unclear service description or rate.
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