CCI UNEARTS ZOMATO, Swiggy Violated Antitrust Rules, Paperwork Display

The app has been found guilty of violation of laws related to food delivery and ZOMATO for providing competition. Investigations by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) have revealed that the methods of business of these companies benefit selected restores listed on their platforms.

A report by Reuters reported that Jomato had reduced some ‘exclusive contract’ by decreasing the commission, while Swiggi only guaranteed the increase in business to some restaurants listed on its platforms. The non-public documents prepared by the CCI states that such contracts between Swiggi, Jomato and some of their restaurant partners obstruct the market becoming more competitive. Reuters have seen these documents. The investigation started by CCI about two years ago over business methods against competition. The investigation was conducted after a complaint by the National Restaurant Association of India.

These documents of CCI have not been made public. These documents were shared in March this year with Swiggi, Jomato and Complaining Restaurant Association. Jomato refused to comment about this. Swiggi and CCI did not answer the questions sent by the Reuters. The matter has been referred to as ‘internal risk’ in the prospectus for the Initious Public Offer (IPO) by Swiggi. The CCI report stated that Swiggi has told the investigators that the exclusive contract program ended last year. However, Swiggy is planning to launch such a program in non-metropolitan cities.

Over the years, Swiggy and Jomato have made a major change in the way of ordering food from the restaurant. There is a listing of thousands of restaurants on the apps of these companies. The investigation found that Jomato had imposed restaurants on the restaurants listed on their platforms for pricing and discounts. In some cases, there was also a provision to impose ‘penalty’ for failing to follow these restaurants of restaurants.