The National Restaurant Association of India has issued an advisory to its members, stating that the discounts offered by Zomato Pay and Swiggy Diner are not in the interest of restaurant owners, PTI reported on Friday.

Zomato Pay allows a customer to pay net sales of an order from a merchant. Swiggy Diner allows customers to place reservations at restaurants at discounted offers.

The association claimed that the delivery platforms are making money by making restaurants offer discounts.

“Zomato Pay and Swiggy Diner both operate broadly on the same construct – no cost or subscription fee to the customer to participate; restaurants must compulsorily offer a discount in the range of 15-40% to be part of the programme,” the association wrote to its member restaurants.

While other payment gateway charges are 1% to 1.5%, Zomato or Swiggy make restaurants pay a commission fee of 4% to 12% on transactions, it further stated. “The fundamental question here is why should a restaurant pay a commission to a middle man to offer a discount to its own customer?” the association asked.

Meanwhile, an unidentified spokesperson for Zomato said that the company is positive about making progress with the initiative, PTI reported.

“With our new dining product, now live in Hyderabad for a few weeks with great results, we are confident that we will create tremendous value and growth for the industry,” the spokesperson said. “We are looking forward to working with progressive restaurants who see the bigger picture.”