The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) has reacted to the order of Competition Commission of India (CCI). The association has welcomed the move of CCI and has expressed satisfaction over the CCI order dated 4 April 2022. The CCI has now ordered an investigation against Zomato and Swiggy, food delivery aggregators, based on the information filed by the NRAI last year.

“We are very happy that the Hon’ble CCI saw merits in our submission, which highlighted Restaurant Industry’s concerns,” reacted NRAI in a press release.

The release states, “It may be noted that the NRAI has been engaging with both the aggregators and the concerned Government authorities in the past few years to resolve existing pain points of the industry vis-à-vis operations of the aggregators. These pain points were acutely amplified during the pandemic when Restaurants and Cloud Kitchens were struggling for survival by way of their increased dependence on these aggregators. In the absence of a sustainable solution, NRAI filed information with CCI on 1 July 2021 highlighting the concerns and issues related to the functioning of food aggregator platforms which should ideally operate as a neutral marketplace.”

“NRAI looks forward to a positive outcome of this investigation which will pave the way towards providing a level playing field for all stakeholders in the ecosystem”, added the release further.

In July 2021, NRAI filed a complaint against the food delivery partners, Zomato and Swiggy against the monopoly in food delivery. The NRAI has alleged the aggregators of unfair business practices. In the complaint filed with the CCI, the association has mentioned that the high discount, exorbitant commissions, pulling restaurants in the race of cutting prices and compromising quality is affecting the business. It will affect both the restaurants and customers.

So far, the food delivery app, Zomato, and Swiggy have avoided commenting on the issue. The CCI has asked its director general to submit a report on the case. Earlier, the aggregators have denied such allegations, but now the CCI has ordered an investigation.