Commission is only the first deduction. Restaurant-funded discounts, advertising and missing-item refunds come out of the payout too, and a consultant quoted by Al Watan in July 2026 estimated that all deductions together can exceed 40% of an order. This guide shows the rates, every deduction, worked examples for the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and how to price and reconcile delivery orders.
What commission do delivery apps charge in the UAE and Saudi Arabia?
Restaurants commonly report commissions of 15% to 30% of the order value, with some higher. The averages in the platforms' own filings look lower because they mix restaurant and grocery orders and include every order type.
| Source | Figure | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| talabat, Q2 2026 results | Commission 13.1% of GMV | Group average across 8 countries, including lower-commission grocery orders |
| Jahez, Q2 2026 results | Take rate 16.5% in Saudi Arabia | Platform average; rising as Jahez shifts revenue from delivery fees to commissions |
| Al Watan, July 2026 | Headline rates up to 18%; over 40% with ads, discounts and promotions | Consultant estimate of total deductions |
| Al Watan, May 2026 | "Up to 30%, maybe more" | What restaurant investors report |
| noon Food and Dubai SME, April 2026 | 10% in year one, rising to 20% by year five | Rates for Emirati SMEs under a Dubai SME agreement |
Your contract is the only number that matters for your restaurant. Rates differ by app, by whether the app or the restaurant delivers, and by any marketing package you have signed up to. Find the rate in your contract or your payout statement, not in an average.
What else is deducted besides commission?
The commission is the deduction you agreed to; the others are the ones that surprise you. Most of them appear only in the app's payout statement, never on your POS Z-report.
| Deduction | What it is | How big it can be |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant-funded discounts | Your share of promotions such as "20% off" | talabat partners funded USD 404 million of customer savings in the first half of 2026 |
| Advertising and listing fees | Paid placement, banners, sponsored search | Charged on top of commission when you opt in |
| Missing or wrong item refunds | Refunds to customers charged back to you | Varies; check every one against your records |
| Payment processing fees | Card fees, depending on your contract | Varies by contract |
| Packaging | Bags, boxes and seals you supply | Your cost on every order |
| VAT on commission and fees | Charged on the app's service to you | Usually recoverable if you are VAT registered |
In Dubai, a consumer protection circular sets out recommended practices for apps, including a monthly itemised statement of sales, commissions, refunds and deductions for each restaurant, and optional advertising. It is guidance rather than a binding rule, but it gives you a basis to ask for the statement. Use that statement to check every line, not just the payout total.
What does one order really earn? Two worked examples
The examples below use illustrative contract terms: a 25% commission on a talabat order in Dubai and a 20% commission on a HungerStation order in Riyadh, both charged on the food value before VAT. Swap in your own rates.
| Line | talabat, Dubai (AED) | HungerStation, Riyadh (SAR) |
|---|---|---|
| Customer pays for the food, including VAT | 105.00 | 115.00 |
| Less: output VAT you pay to the tax authority (5% / 15%) | (5.00) | (15.00) |
| Food sale before VAT | 100.00 | 100.00 |
| Less: commission | (25.00) | (20.00) |
| Less: packaging | (2.50) | (3.00) |
| Less: food cost at 30% | (30.00) | (30.00) |
| Contribution from the order | 42.50 | 47.00 |
| Same food eaten in the restaurant | 70.00 | 70.00 |
The app charges VAT on its commission (AED 1.25 and SAR 3.00 here). If you are VAT registered and hold a valid tax invoice, you recover it, so it is not a cost.
Now add a promotion. If the Dubai order runs a 20% discount and you fund half of it, your share is AED 10.00. Contribution falls to AED 32.50, less than half of the AED 70 the same meal earns in the restaurant. The example assumes commission is charged on the food value before the discount; some contracts charge it on the discounted price, which lowers the commission, so check yours. Promotions are where delivery margins disappear fastest.
How should you price delivery orders?
Set a separate delivery price list, calculated to earn a contribution you choose. Restaurants in Saudi Arabia already do this widely: a January 2026 comparison found app prices 20% to more than 80% above the same restaurants' own apps. We found no rule in the UAE or Saudi Arabia that requires app prices to match the restaurant menu.
Delivery price before VAT = (target contribution + food cost + packaging) ÷ (1 − commission rate)
Using the Dubai example, with food cost AED 30, packaging AED 2.50 and a 25% commission:
| Target contribution per order | Delivery price before VAT | Menu price with 5% VAT | Increase on the dine-in price |
|---|---|---|---|
| AED 42.50 (no change) | AED 100.00 | AED 105.00 | 0% |
| AED 55.00 | AED 116.67 | AED 122.50 | +17% |
| AED 70.00 (same as dine-in) | AED 136.67 | AED 143.50 | +37% |
Few restaurants pass on the full gap; customers compare prices. A common approach is to price for a contribution between the two, as in the middle row, and to remove dishes that travel badly or carry low contribution from the delivery menu. Our guide to menu pricing from food cost shows how to find each dish's contribution.
How does VAT work on delivery orders?
In both countries the restaurant is normally the seller of the food and owes output VAT on the full price the customer pays for it. The app's commission is a separate service to the restaurant, with its own VAT.
| Point | UAE | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| Who sells the food | The restaurant, where the app acts as a disclosed agent (VAT Law, Article 9) | The restaurant, where the app acts as a disclosed agent (ZATCA e-commerce guideline) |
| VAT on the food | 5% on the full food price, reported by the restaurant | 15% on the full food price, reported by the restaurant |
| VAT on the commission | Charged by the app on its service | 15%, standard-rated (ZATCA e-commerce guideline, May 2026) |
| Restaurants not registered for VAT | No platform rule | From 1 January 2026, the platform can become the deemed supplier |
Two practical consequences follow. First, record the gross food sale and the commission separately in your books. Booking the payout as sales understates both sales and output VAT. Second, ask each app for a tax invoice for its commission every month, so you can recover the VAT on it.
In Saudi Arabia, who issues the simplified e-invoice for an app order is a question to settle with your app and your tax adviser. Only one invoice may exist for each sale.
What rules protect restaurants from delivery app charges?
Neither the UAE nor Saudi Arabia caps delivery commissions. Both have issued fairness guidance instead, and a neighbouring market has gone further.
| Market | Rule | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Dubai | Consumer protection Circular No. 2 of 2025 (recommended practices, not a binding rule) | Recommends monthly itemised statements, optional advertising, no hidden or retroactive charges and 30 days' notice of contract changes |
| Saudi Arabia | Competition authority (GAC) draft guide for delivery platforms, March 2025 | Targets predatory pricing, exclusive contracts, discrimination between restaurants and self-preferencing; no commission cap |
| Kuwait (for comparison) | Ministerial Decision No. 109 of 2026 | Commission capped at 17% with app delivery and 10% with the restaurant's own delivery; the Administrative Court struck down the decision's penalties in September 2026 (a first-instance ruling), but the caps still stand |
The Dubai statement recommendation is the most useful in practice. It gives you a document to reconcile every month, line by line, and a basis for disputing charges you did not agree to.
How should you reconcile a delivery app payout?
Match the payout statement to your POS order by order, not by total. In HYP's work with restaurant groups, the payout total often looks reasonable while individual orders are missing, refunded or discounted in ways nobody approved.
What we see most often: orders keyed by hand from the app tablet, so the POS and the statement never match; payouts booked as sales, which understates output VAT; and refunds for "missing items" accepted without checking. Integrating each app with the POS removes the first problem, and recording gross sales with commission as a separate cost removes the second.
Sources
- talabat Holding: Q2 2026 results, 12 August 2026
- Jahez: Q2 2026 results, 9 August 2026
- Al Watan: delivery app deductions, 27 July 2026
- Al Watan: restaurant investors on commissions, 21 May 2026
- Dubai Media Office: Dubai SME and noon partnership, 21 April 2026
- Gulf News: Dubai rules for food delivery apps, 2 September 2025
- Argaam: delivery app prices and the GAC study, 29 January 2026
- Argaam: GAC draft guide for food delivery platforms, 18 March 2025
- ZATCA: Guideline on Electronic Commerce under VAT Provisions
- Grant Thornton: VAT and electronic marketplaces in Saudi Arabia, 8 January 2026
- Kuwait Times: delivery fee and commission caps, 14 July 2026