India, Sept. 5 -- Food delivery platforms such as Zomato and Swiggy are set to face fresh challenges after the GST Council announced that local delivery services will attract 18% GST and be brought under the ambit of the CGST Act. The move comes at a time when these companies are already struggling with rising cost pressures.

The GST Council has also clarified that local delivery services, currently taxed at 18% with ITC, will continue at the same rate with no change.

With the decision to include delivery services in CGST, delivery platforms will not be able to avoid taxes on delivery charges. Until now, platforms have bypassed GST on delivery fees by classifying them as pass-through costs instead of treating them as part of their reven...