Swiggy, Zomato's conduct needs investigation, says CCI

New Delhi: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) launched a probe into the behaviour of food aggregators Swiggy and Zomato, which are accused of delaying payments, imposing one-sided terms, and charging high commissions.

According to the fair trade regulator, there is a prima facie case for certain actions of Zomato and Swiggy.

CCI has requested its director general to conduct a thorough investigation into the claims and provide a report within two months.

"The Commission believes that there is a prima facie case with respect to some of Zomato and Swiggy activity, which necessitates an inquiry by the Director General (DG) to assess if the platforms' conduct has resulted in a violation of the requirements," the antitrust authority stated.

The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), which represents over 50,000 restaurant operators across the country, filed the complaint that led to the order.

In July of last year, the association filed a complaint with the antitrust commission, alleging data masking, deep discounting, and platform neutrality violations against Zomato and Swiggy.

"The magnitude of Zomato and Swiggy's anti-competitive activities have expanded manifold throughout the (Covid-19) pandemic, and despite multiple contacts with them, these deep-pocketed marketplace platforms are not interested in addressing restaurant concerns," it had alleged.