Zomato & Swiggy Settlement Entry in Tally: Commission Invoices, 18% ITC, and GSTR-2B Reconciliation

If you manage accounts for a restaurant, cloud kitchen, or bakery on Zomato or Swiggy, you know the frustration: your bank statement shows a net payout of ₹74,320, your internal POS records gross sales of ₹1,00,000, and your weekly aggregator payout sheet lists over eight separate deductions: platform commission, customer discounts, delivery fees, payment gateway charges, cancellation penalties, TCS, and TDS.

This page is one part of our GSTR-2B reconciliation guide, which shows how the whole process fits together.

To make matters worse, at the end of the month, Zomato and Bundl Technologies (Swiggy) upload a monthly B2B tax invoice for their commission and platform services directly into your GSTR-2B. That single commission invoice carries 18% GST (CGST + SGST or IGST). On every accounting forum (from CAClubIndia to Reddit's accounting threads, the recurring debate is: Can a restaurant claim ITC on Zomato commission? And how do you pass the settlement journal voucher in Tally without corrupting your GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B?

In this operational guide, we break down the exact statutory rules, walk through the step-by-step settlement journal entry in Tally Prime, and show you how to reconcile aggregator commission invoices against GSTR-2B so your eligible input tax credit is never lost or disputed.

The statutory framework: section 9(5), section 194-O, and commission ITC

Before touching your Tally vouchers, it is essential to understand the three distinct statutory provisions governing food delivery aggregators in India:

1. GST on Restaurant Food Orders (Section 9(5) CGST Act):
   Since 1 January 2022, electronic commerce operators (ECOs) like Zomato and Swiggy are legally treated as the deemed supplier for restaurant services provided through their platforms. Zomato and Swiggy collect and pay the 5% GST directly to the government. As a restaurant, you do not collect or pay GST on food orders sold via these platforms. However, under GST reporting rules, you must declare these turnover figures in Table 3.1.1(ii) of GSTR-3B (taxable supplies made through ECO on which ECO pays tax).
2. Income Tax TDS (Section 194-O):
   Under Section 194-O of the Income Tax Act, the aggregator is required to deduct TDS on the gross sale amount. Statutory Note: Following the Union Budget 2024 rationalization, the TDS rate under Section 194-O was reduced from 1% to 0.1% effective 1 October 2024. Always verify that your deductions reflect this 0.1% rate rather than the outdated 1% levy.
3. The Aggregator Commission Invoice & 18% ITC:
   Zomato and Swiggy do not provide their services for free. They charge a commission (typically 18% to 25% of gross orders), plus payment processing charges and delivery facilitation fees. At the end of each billing cycle or month, they generate a GST-compliant tax invoice addressed to your restaurant's GSTIN, charging 18% GST on those platform fees.

Can restaurants claim ITC on Zomato and Swiggy commission?

This is the question that generates endless arguments on CA forums. The answer depends on your restaurant's tax regime:

• Standard Standalone Restaurants (5% GST without ITC): If your restaurant pays GST at the standard 5% concession rate under Notification No. 11/2017-CT(R), the law explicitly blocks you from claiming Input Tax Credit on goods and services used for supplying restaurant food. In this case, you cannot claim ITC on Zomato/Swiggy commission. The 18% GST charged on the invoice must be booked as a business operational expense in your P&L (debited to Platform Commission Expense).
• Restaurants Paying 18% GST (Hotel-Attached or Waived Concession): If your restaurant operates within hotel premises with room tariffs exceeding ₹7,500/night or you operate under a tax structure eligible for full ITC, the 18% GST charged on Zomato/Swiggy commission is 100% eligible for ITC in Table 4(A)(5) of GSTR-3B.
• Bakery / Packaged Goods Sellers / Cloud Kitchens with Dual Supply: If you supply packaged FMCG goods, chocolates, or beverages alongside prepared food, the proportion of commission attributable to non-restaurant supplies is eligible for ITC, requiring careful monthly apportionment under Rules 42 and 43.

Understanding the weekly settlement statement: practical example

Let us look at a typical weekly settlement sheet from an aggregator. Suppose your cloud kitchen had the following numbers for the week:

Step-by-step Tally Prime journal entry

Many novice bookkeepers make the fatal error of simply recording the net payout (₹69,530) as a direct receipt against "Food Sales". Never do this. If you book only the net receipt, your gross turnover will be understated by more than 30%, triggering income tax mismatches against your AIS/26AS and skewing your GSTR-3B Table 3.1.1 reporting.

The standard, audit-proof practice is to pass a comprehensive Journal Voucher (F7) in Tally Prime for the settlement, followed by a Receipt Voucher (F6) when the funds hit the bank.

1. The Settlement Journal Voucher (F7) in Tally:

2. The Bank Receipt Voucher (F6) in Tally:

When the payout hits your bank account, pass a simple receipt entry:

• Dr. HDFC / ICICI Bank Current A/c: ₹69,530
• Cr. Zomato / Swiggy Receivable A/c: ₹69,530

This zeroes out the aggregator debtor ledger and ensures your gross sales, expenses, and TDS credits remain 100% auditable.

The reconciliation trap: commission invoices vs. GSTR-2B

At the end of every calendar month, Zomato and Bundl Technologies issue their formal tax invoices. These appear in your GSTR-2B on the 14th of the following month under B2B Invoices (Table 3).

This is where costly reconciliation errors happen every filing cycle:

1. Timing Differences (Cutoff Dates): Aggregators operate on weekly payout cycles (e.g., Monday to Sunday). A settlement period might run from 28 September to 4 October. However, their monthly GST invoice is generated strictly on a calendar month basis (1 September to 30 September). If your Tally bookkeeper booked expenses based on payout statements without cross-referencing the monthly tax invoice, your ledger balance will not match GSTR-2B.
2. GSTIN and State Mismatches: Aggregators bill your restaurant from their state branch GSTIN corresponding to your outlet location. If you operate multiple cloud kitchen brands or multi-location outlets under separate state GSTINs, aggregators frequently misallocate invoices to the wrong outlet or head office GSTIN.
3. Unclaimed Eligible ITC: If you are eligible for ITC (e.g., dual supply, bakery items, or hotel restaurants), failing to reconcile the aggregator's B2B invoice means you miss claiming thousands of rupees of legitimate ITC every month. Conversely, if you are a 5% restaurant, claiming this invoice in Table 4(A)(5) by mistake is a claim of credit the law does not allow you; if it is used, it has to be paid back with interest at 18% a year under Section 50(3).
4. Disputed Platform Penalties: If an aggregator penalizes your restaurant for late order prep or customer cancellations, they often deduct this amount in the payout sheet. These deductions may or may not be accompanied by a credit note in GSTR-2B.

How to reconcile aggregator invoices with gstr2bmatch.in

You do not need an expensive ERP integration or a ₹1,000/month reconciliation subscription just to verify your aggregator commission bills.

Follow this quick, 2-minute reconciliation routine between the 14th and 20th of every month:

1. Download GSTR-2B: Log into the GST portal on the 14th and download your monthly GSTR-2B in Excel format (.xlsx).
2. Export Your Purchase Register: In Tally Prime, go to Display More Reports → Account Books → Purchase Register (or your Aggregator Expense Register) and export it to Excel.
3. Open gstr2bmatch.in: Add your Tally Excel export as the purchase register and your GSTR-2B file.
4. Instant Client-Side Match: The engine automatically matches your entries by GSTIN, Invoice Number, and Tax Amount in your browser memory. Your client data never leaves your computer: zero cloud uploads, zero account creation required.
5. Review the Aggregator Cluster: Check whether Zomato (Zomato Limited) and Swiggy (Bundl Technologies Private Limited) invoices appear in Bucket A (Matched). If an invoice shows up in Bucket D (in GSTR-2B but not in books), your accountant forgot to pass the month-end commission entry. If it is in Bucket C (in books but missing from GSTR-2B), the aggregator has not reported it in its GSTR-1, and you must hold the tax portion until it appears.

Summary: the accountant's monthly checklist

Don't let commission invoices, timing discrepancies, and TDS rates complicate your monthly GST filing. Run a free GSTR-2B reconciliation on gstr2bmatch.in today →. It's private, instant, and runs entirely in your browser.

Related guides

• GSTR-2B reconciliation guide: the complete guide to ITC matching
• ITC conditions before claiming: what an invoice must satisfy before you claim its ITC
• GSTR-2B reconciliation with purchase register: matching your register with GSTR-2B invoice by invoice