Foodpanda is under investigation for alleged abuse of its dominant position in the online food ordering industry. Roughly, over 10000 orders are served online by the giant. The complaint was filed by the All Pakistan Restaurant Association accompanied by CHEETAY.PK (another online food ordering platform). The inquiry committee will also review whether the exemption granted for loyalty agreements to Foodpanda in April 2019 for three years is impeding competition in light of the concerns highlighted by various market players
Foodpanda Under Investigation- WHY?
Major reasons for filing this complaint are listed below
- Foodpanda, being the dominant platform, charges an exorbitant amount of commission from the restaurants.
- Setting up various discounts and promotions that the restaurants are forced to participate in, thus causing a financial squeeze.
- Setting up an environment of exclusivity for other competitors.
Owing to the growing anger among many restaurants, the All Pakistan Restaurant Association along with Cheetay filed a complaint and the authorities finally accepted to investigate into the matter.
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Now, we can talk about how Foodpanda deals with the customers. Some of the major issues that I have experienced (either myself or as seen on social media, friends circle)
- Wrong or delayed orders are not being compensated.
- Most orders with online transactions tend to face problems such as wrong orders, delayed orders, not receiving food at all. On top of that, Foodpanda tends to resolve the issue by “apologizing” instead of compensating.
- We have also faced scenarios where a refund was not made by Foodpanda for illogical reasons. Such as, when a restaurant cancels or fails to deliver, Foodpanda usually tries not to initiate a refund.
In such cases, we as customers can go to a consumer court. Although, we know that Foodpanda has lawyers who will do their best to defend. However, if we keep on ignoring the troubles caused by every other multi-million dollar organization, we will keep suffering.
Let’s share this news as much as we can. Let Foodpanda know that the customers matter, so do the restaurants. Both are the two most important pillars of this online business industry.
Happy sharing.
