NEW DELHI: Zomato on Tuesday said that it would work closely with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and assist them with their investigation in the allegation of anti-competitive practices. The anti-trust regulator on Monday ordered an investigation into the conduct of Zomato and Swiggy after the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) had made several allegations of anti-competitive practices by the two food delivery apps.
The listed food delivery firm Zomato informed exchanges that it would explain to the regulator why all its practices are in compliance with competition laws and do not have any adverse effect on competition in India. It further said the company intends to promptly comply with any recommendations of the Commission.
Zomato further informed that the commission had prima facie not found any concerns with respect to levy of commissions or alleged bundling of services, though the CCI would want to investigate aspects such as preferential listing of restaurant partners and pricing parity across platforms, etc. NRAI has alleged the two food delivery platforms force restaurants to use their food delivery services if they want to avail the listing services.
In their defence, Swiggy and Zomato have told CCI that the bundling is done to control the end-to-end service of the order placed through their respective apps with the objective of enhancing consumer welfare. Meanwhile, NRAI has said it is happy the Commission found merit in its submission and passed an order to investigate the conduct of the platforms. It said the restaurant body has been engaging with both the platforms and government authorities in the past to resolve the pain points.