DBT Bureau
Bengaluru, 8 November 2024
Food delivery platforms, Zomato & Swiggy have been found to be breaching anti-trust laws , an investigation by India’s anti-trust body, Competition Commission of India (CCI) showed.
According to a Reuters report, both platforms are found to be favouring select restaurants listed on their platforms as per the probe by CCI.
The report showed that Zomato entered into “exclusivity contracts” with partners in return for lower commissions, while Swiggy gave assured business growth to select players if they listed exclusively on its platform, according to the report citing documents prepared by the CCI.
Notably, investigation by CCI against Swiggy and Zomato started in 2022 after receiving a complaint by National Restaurant Association of India about the impact on food outlets of alleged anti-competitive practices of the two platforms.
Giving glimpses of anti-copetitive practices followed by these two platforms, the report noted that Zomato was found to have imposed pricing and discount restrictions on restaurants. It also imposed penal provisions in case of non-compliance. Similarly, Swiggy allegedly threatened restaurants that their rankings would be downgraded if they don’t maintain price parity, the report noted.
