NRAI approaches CCI against 'anti-competitive practices' by Zomato, Swiggy

Alleging "anti-competitive practices" by Zomato and Swiggy, restaurant industry body NRAI on Monday said it has approached fair trade regulator CCI for a detailed probe against the food ordering platforms.

Keeping the interest of restaurants in mind and how they have been affected by the "inherently anti-competitive practices" of Zomato and Swiggy, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) on July 1 filed information with the Competition Commission of India (CCI), it said in a statement.

Issues such as bundling of services, data masking and exorbitant commissions charged, deep discounting, violation of platform neutrality and lack of transparency have been flagged in the submission, it added.

"We have been in constant dialogue with the foodservice aggregators over last 15-18 months to resolve critical issues impacting the sector.

"However, despite all our efforts, we have unfortunately not been able to resolve them with the aggregators. The needle hasn't moved much on these issues," NRAI President Anurag Katriar said.

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NRAI has therefore approached the CCI now to look into the matter and investigate them thoroughly, he added.

"We are committed to the cause of our partners, and we will put our best efforts with the CCI to ensure that the practices of these marketplace platforms are aligned to the benefit of the entire F&B industry," Katriar said.

E-mails sent to Zomato and Swiggy seeking comments on the matter did not elicit any immediate response.

In another development, the initial public offer (IPO) of the foodtech unicorn Zomato is likely to open for subscription on July 19 at a price band of Rs 70-72 per share, according to a report.

(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)