NRAI seeks CCI intervention into Swiggy, Zomato ‘anti-competitive’ practices

NRAI has asked the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to investigate multiple issues, including deep discounting, data masking and violation of platform neutrality by the restaurant aggregators.

National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) has sought the intervention of India’s anti-monopoly watchdog to resolve what it alleged were “anti-competitive practices” followed by Zomato and Swiggy, in a fresh salvo against the online food delivery platforms over a long-standing dispute between both sides.

NRAI, which represents over 500,000 restaurants across the country, has asked the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to investigate multiple issues, including deep discounting, data masking and violation of platform neutrality by the restaurant aggregators.

“During the (Covid-19) pandemic, the magnitude of anti-competitive practices of Zomato and Swiggy have increased manifold and despite numerous discussions with them, these deep funded marketplace platforms are not interested in alleviating concerns of the restaurants,” NRAI said in a statement on Monday.

“We have been in constant dialogue with foodservice aggregators over the last 15-18 months to resolve critical issues impacting the sector. However, we have not been able to resolve these issues; we have therefore approached the CCI now to look into the matter and investigate them thoroughly,” Anurag Katriar, president of NRAI, said.