The policy menu for online food aggregators may get new entries – the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade ( DPIIT ) has summoned Swiggy Foodpanda and Uber Eats for a meeting on Thursday. This follows complaints from restaurants that food aggregators are engaging in “deep discounting” and “predatory pricing”.Recently, the commerce and industry minister, Piyush Goyal, admonished global ecommerce players for “hurting” local kiranas and small retailers through their “predatory pricing” practices. They have problems similar to those brick-and-mortar retailers had with ecommerce platforms,” said an official in the know of the details. Aggregators will also present ideas on improving food safety, they said.Around 500 restaurateurs had complained to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) early this year. An intervention may not be likely at the moment,” said Arvind Singhal, chairman, Technopak.India’s food ordering sector has seen partial rationalisation in the past six months.

Source: Economic Times July 04, 2019 02:47 UTC