Quick delivery app FAQ: Blinkit, Zepto, Instamart and more

It depends on which stores are close to your address, and each app covers different streets. You can check one app at a time, such as Blinkit near you, or pick your city and then your area to see every app by city at once.

No store is close enough to your address, or the nearest one is closed or too busy right now. Each store covers only a few kilometres. Try again in a while, check that the map pin is on your building, or try another app. Apps call the check serviceability.

Blinkit, by a wide margin, with 2,621 stores. Across dark stores in India, that is roughly as many as Zepto and Instamart put together.

8,241 across six apps, in 498 cities. That includes Amazon Now’s 853, with 174 partner More stores it uses as dark stores. JioMart also delivers from 2,613 Reliance Stores, counted separately. The count changes often, with openings and closures in each dark store report.

Bengaluru, with 926 stores. Delhi and Hyderabad come next in the cities with the most dark stores, which runs down to towns with one store.

It depends on which apps have stores near you, so the best app in each city is the one with the most stores close to your area.

Yes, in more towns all the time. Amazon Now is in more than 120 cities, and Flipkart Minutes was in 150+ cities by September 2026. Coverage in tier-2 cities and smaller towns is thinner, so check the store count for your town before you rely on an app.

Yes, in some areas. Zepto Pharmacy and a Blinkit pilot deliver medicines in parts of a few big cities, and prescription medicines still need a valid prescription. Blinkit and Flipkart Minutes sell phones and laptops in most big cities. Medicine delivery in minutes covers fewer cities than phone and electronics delivery.

No. In January 2026 a minister asked apps to stop advertising the promise, but it is not among the quick-commerce rules in India. Apps still show delivery times in minutes.

In big cities most orders arrive in about 10–20 minutes because stores are close. The average Blinkit trip was about 2 km in January 2026. Expect longer waits at peak hours, in the rain and in smaller towns.

Free delivery starts anywhere from ₹99 to ₹299. Flipkart Minutes is free above ₹99 on its own app. Blinkit is free above ₹199 and Zepto above ₹199 (up to ₹299 at peak hours), while delivery charges below those limits differ by app.

No. The main apps give free delivery to everyone above a minimum cart value, such as ₹199 on Blinkit. Plans such as Swiggy One, Zepto Club and Amazon Prime only lower that minimum, so delivery memberships pay off only if you often order small carts.

A small per-order charge for packing, separate from the delivery fee. It is not the same as a platform fee, and one bill can carry both. Blinkit’s handling fee is ₹4 and Instamart’s ₹9.8, while Zepto has dropped it.

An extra charge on very small orders, usually under ₹99, because delivering them costs more than they earn. Blinkit’s small-cart fee is ₹20 and Instamart’s ₹15.

Yes. Delivery, handling and rain fees attract 18% GST, shown at checkout. Product prices already include GST.

Fees are legal, but mandatory charges must be shown upfront. Adding them late is drip pricing, a banned dark pattern. The consumer regulator fined Zepto ₹7 lakh in December 2025.

Each app sets its own prices and discounts, and many now own their stock. Fees, memberships and offers also change the final bill, so compare the total at checkout.

Yes. They need an FSSAI licence, and state food-safety officers inspect them. There have been 12 raids and licence suspensions since 2025.

Yes. Licences were suspended at Zepto’s Dharavi site (Jun 2025), Blinkit’s Malad West facility (Aug 2026) and four Hyderabad stores (Sep 2026), among others.

Open the order in the app, go to help and report the item the same day, with photos of the product and bill. Refunds go back to your original payment method or the app wallet. If chat does not solve it, write to the app’s grievance officer, then call the National Consumer Helpline on 1915. Never share an OTP or UPI PIN for a refund.

Photograph the product, label and bill, and report it in the app for a refund. If that fails, escalate to the app’s grievance officer and complain to your state food-safety department or the National Consumer Helpline.

Use the help section in the app first. Each company has its own official channels, such as Blinkit customer care and Zepto customer care. Never call numbers found on random websites.

Design tricks that push you into paying more or buying add-ons, such as pre-ticked memberships or fees revealed only at the end. Such dark patterns are banned under 2023 guidelines.

Companies advertise upper limits. Blinkit says up to ₹50,000 a month including incentives. Take-home pay after fuel is usually lower than the advertised figure for dark store and rider jobs.

No. Genuine jobs never ask for a fee. Apply only through the company’s own app or website and ignore WhatsApp “HR managers” asking for money.

No platform publishes an official franchise fee. Apps work with partners who lease space or run stores. Fake dark store franchise sites are common, and the Delhi High Court ordered some taken down in 2025.

Yes, apps lease ground-floor spaces, increasingly over 5,000 sq ft. Contact them only through official channels, such as Blinkit’s partner routes, and check what apps look for in a property first.

Apply through the platform’s official seller or brand page, since each app runs its own seller sign-up. Blinkit’s CEO warned in October 2025 about agents charging for listings.

Since the labour codes took effect on 21 November 2025, apps must pay 1–2% of turnover into a gig-worker fund. The benefit rules for gig workers in quick commerce are still being worked out.

Quick commerce is online shopping that delivers everyday items in 10–30 minutes from small local warehouses called dark stores, unlike regular e-commerce, which ships from big warehouses.

A small warehouse, closed to shoppers, that only packs online orders for nearby delivery. How a dark store works comes down to being close: each one serves only a few kilometres.

A dark store is small and close to homes, stocked for delivery in minutes. A mother hub is a bigger warehouse that restocks many dark stores, and a regular warehouse ships slower orders over a wider area.

The delivery radius is usually about 2–3 km in big cities, and further in small towns.

GOV is the total value of orders, NOV is that value after discounts and cancellations, and AOV is the average spend per order.

About US$13 billion in FY26, with market size forecasts of US$70–90 billion by FY31.

Eternal Ltd, the listed company formerly called Zomato Ltd. It was renamed in February 2025. Blinkit’s founder Albinder Dhindsa became Eternal’s CEO in February 2026.

On adjusted EBITDA, yes, for four quarters running: ₹184 crore in July–September 2026, under 1% of order value. It is not yet a large profit, and adjusted EBITDA leaves out some costs.

Not yet. Each order now roughly covers its own costs, but the business still loses money once overheads are added, as Instamart’s quarterly results show.

Not yet scheduled. SEBI cleared it in May 2026, but on 31 July 2026 Zepto put the listing on hold. It now aims to list between February and May 2027, the latest target for the Zepto IPO.

Only Indian-owned and controlled companies may sell their own inventory online. Both capped foreign holding at 49.5% to qualify as an IOCC.

Yes. Amazon Now launched in Bengaluru in 2025 and is now in more than 120 cities.

Flipkart Minutes is Flipkart’s quick delivery service, launched in August 2024. It crossed 1,000 micro-fulfilment centres in June 2026 and has 1,202 stores now.

No closure has been announced. In July 2026 BigBasket was cutting BigBasket BB Now back from 76 cities to about 40 to reduce losses.

Dunzo’s app went offline in January 2025. Reliance wrote off its ₹1,645 crore investment in August 2025, leaving Dunzo among the closed quick commerce companies in India.

Distributors say so, and complained to the CCI in February 2025. The CCI opened a preliminary inquiry. No independent count of closures exists, so the kirana and quick commerce debate rests on claims from both sides.