Every year, Flipkart’s Big Billion Days sale promises jaw-dropping discounts and deals. 

And this time around, I finally thought I’d found one I wanted to take advantage of. The price of the new iPhone 16 and 16 Pro had dropped by almost Rs 20,000 on the platform. That’s definitely a “great deal”, I thought, adding it to my cart with a small feeling of triumph.

Then I looked closer.

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Hidden among the fine print and checkout details were fees totalling Rs 627. 

Not too much in the larger scheme of things, but they came in many creative forms: an offer handling fee, a payment handling fee, a protect promise fee, a platform fee, and a few more I’ve never heard of before. I am not bluffing; take a look at this checkout screenshot for a different order below.

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And it did not stop there.

As I started comparing prices for different listings, I realised how many layers are built into Flipkart’s pricing structure right now—there are “special discounts”, “extra discounts”, “other discounts”… The same product shows a “listing price”, a “selling price”, and a “special price”. And which is the final price? Well, none of those. 

It feels less like shopping and more like solving a puzzle.

Take a simple example. If you are buying a phone that costs more than Rs 50,000, you might naturally expect free delivery. After all, most platforms offer that on purchases above Rs 300. But Flipkart’s breakup showed a shipping fee of Rs 575 and a “secure packaging” fee of Rs 149. That is Rs 724 extra just for logistics.

The same product listed on Flipkart Minutes—Flipkart’s quick-commerce service—has a different fee structure, and ends up costing Rs 120 more. 

Take a look.

Note: The screenshot on the left features normal Flipkart pricing details, where Rs 149 is the secured packaging fee. The screenshot on the right is the Flipkart Minutes pricing for the same product.

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Such inconsistencies are rife all over the platform. For instance, if you trade in your old phone, you are charged a Rs 199 pick-up fee. However, if you exchange a washing machine that weighs half a quintal or more, the pick-up fee is only Rs 100. Try making sense of that.

The issue has not gone unnoticed. 

On October 3, Pralhad Joshi, India’s Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution, announced that the consumer affairs department would be initiating an investigation on such additional charges.