Zomato, Swiggy agree to resolve issues raised by restaurant body

Both of them deduced issues of deep discounting, high and uneven commission charges, data masking and mandatory bundling of services which are crippling the restaurant industry.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) and top two online food aggregators, Zomato and Swiggy, have agreed to discuss and resolve the issues between them at the earliest.

The two sides will meet again in the second week of September.

“On August 26, NRAI deliberated eight critical issues pertaining to the online delivery space with Swiggy and Zomato. Both of them deduced issues of deep discounting, high and uneven commission charges, data masking and mandatory bundling of services which are crippling the restaurant industry.

"There is an in-principle agreement to resolve these issues within specific timeline,” NRAI said of the meeting that went on till late in the night.

On August 26, NRAI had written to Zomato, Swiggy, UberEats, and Foodpanda, raising eight critical issues it has with the companies.

These were deep discounts, high and uneven commission charges, arbitrary terms and conditions, lack of transparency, customer data masking, aggregators developing their own brands based on customer data, forcing restaurants to use aggregator services, arbitrary rules of engagement, and non-transparent ways of ranking restaurants on the platforms.

Also, NRAI had started a logout campaign on August 14 against aggressive pricing and deep discounting.

“We had a detailed meeting with NRAI where we discussed all issues faced by the industry and agreed to work towards solutions sustainable for all participants.

"We have agreed to meet in a short time to discuss potential solutions,” said a Zomato spokesperson.

After a public showdown between NRAI and Zomato, the Gurugram-based company’s founder, Deepinder Goyal, said in a tweet last week the food aggregator would no longer engage with the restaurants on the ongoing #logout campaign.

NRAI said the meeting on Thursday with Zomato “began with a false note as they stated their intention to introduce Zomato Gold on the delivery vertical as well. This is an entirely unacceptable proposition to NRAI”.

Swiggy said: “Swiggy and the NRAI are committed to creating value for both restaurants and consumers in a sustainable manner.

"We have had a constructive and collaborative dialogue today and have agreed to reconvene on all the points that were discussed.”

NRAI said Swiggy’s approach in the meeting was “constructive”.