Restaurants' lobby protests discounts, data policy of food delivery apps

The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) Tuesday said it has raised concerns over deep discounting and data masking by food ordering and delivery firms such as Swiggy, Zomato and Foodpanda.

The restaurants' body said it flagged issues regarding misuse of dominant position, in a meeting with the app-based food ordering and delivery firms.

"NRAI delivery task force had its first meeting with Swiggy, Zomato, Uber Eats and Foodpanda today (Tuesday). Concerns of the standalone and chain business operators regarding deep discounting, data masking, right to use own logistics, private labels and ad hoc campaigns were put forth," NRAI President Rahul Singh said in a statement.

Stating that the "concerns have been well taken", he said, "we aim to continue these meetings on a bi-monthly basis for communicating feedback from the restaurant industry to the aggregators to ensure a healthy business environment for all stakeholders."

NRAI is the apex body of the Indian restaurant industry, representing over one lakh restaurants across the country.