Restaurants body cautions members of aggregator disruption in dine-in space
National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) on Sunday cautioned its 500,000-plus restaurant members on what it termed «dangers» of deep discounting on dining-in, monopolising of payment gateways and data control by aggregators such as Swiggy and Zomato. «Deep discounting has caused significant challenges in food delivery; NRAI warns that similar tactics are being employed to capture the dine-in market,» the NRAI said in a detailed advisory, a copy of which was seen by ET.
The development could escalate multiple long-standing disputes between India's ₹5.69 lakh crore restaurant sector and food delivery aggregators, which have been clocking healthy growth year-on-year on the back of consumer convenience and last-mile discoverability. Matters of dispute between the two, including allegations by the NRAI of deep discounting, data masking and uneven commissions by the aggregator platforms on deliveries, are currently being examined by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
For table bookings made by customers on aggregator platforms, most restaurants need to pay 4-8% commissions to the latter, which are higher than the 1-1.5% charged by third-party payment gateways, according to the advisory. According to the NRAI, aggregator payment gateways push aggressive discounts and cashbacks to acquire customers, which, it alleged, are at the expense of the restaurants. Third-party gateways include Paytm and BharatPe.
Swiggy and Zomato declined to comment on the development.
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