Centre orders online food operators to show break-up of all charges levied

Asks them to submit plan in 15 days for improving complaint redress

Gig Workers, Home Delivery, Delivery Guy
The directives were given at a meeting chaired by Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh on Monday with major e-commerce food business operators to discuss issues that affect customers.
Sanjeeb MukherjeeAgencies New Delhi
2 min read Last Updated : Jun 14 2022 | 12:00 AM IST
The government on Monday asked online food business operators (FBOs) like Swiggy and Zomato to transparently reveal the break-up of all charges included in the order amount, such as delivery cost, packaging fee, surge pricing, and taxes and allow customers the choice to share their contact information with restaurants if approved.

The operators were also asked to submit a proposal within 15 days to improve their customer grievance redress mechanism.

The directives were given at a meeting chaired by Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh on Monday with major e-commerce food business operators to discuss issues that affect customers.

The meeting was called amid rising complaints from customers about unfair trade practices by online FBOs.

An official statement said that during the meeting, major issues raised by customers on the national consumer helpline were discussed, including veracity of the amount of delivery and packing charges and the reasonability of such charges, disparity between the price and quantity of food items shown on the platform and actually offered by the restaurant, inconsistency in delivery time, etc.

The statement also said that the National Restaurant Association of India, the apex body of restaurants in the country, said that customer information was not being shared by e-commerce FBOs with restaurants, impacting their ability to serve customer needs better.

The restaurant association also said that delivery charges are determined and levied by the latter.

E-commerce FBOs on their part observed that prices of food items are decided by the restaurants and they have a grievance redress mechanism in place that does have scope for improvement, considering the number and nature of grievances registered by customers.

One subscription. Two world-class reads.

Already subscribed? Log in

Subscribe to read the full story →
Subscribe to Business Standard digital and get complimentary access to The New York Times

Quarterly Starter

₹900

3 Months

₹300/Month

SAVE 25%

Smart Essential

₹2,700

1 Year

₹225/Month

Save 46%

Super Saver

₹3,900

2 Years

₹162/Month

Subscribe

Renews automatically, cancel anytime

Here’s what’s included in our digital subscription plans

Access to Exclusive Premium Stories Online

  • Over 30 behind the paywall stories daily, handpicked by our editors for subscribers

Complimentary Access to The New York Times

  • News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter & The Athletic

Business Standard Epaper

  • Digital replica of our daily newspaper — with options to read, save, and share

Curated Newsletters

  • Insights on markets, finance, politics, tech, and more delivered to your inbox

Market Analysis & Investment Insights

  • In-depth market analysis & insights with access to The Smart Investor

Archives

  • Repository of articles and publications dating back to 1997

Ad-free Reading

  • Uninterrupted reading experience with no advertisements

Seamless Access Across All Devices

  • Access Business Standard across devices — mobile, tablet, or PC, via web or app

Topics :SwiggyZomatoonline food delivery

Next Story