Demands Fifteen Percent Capped Commission Ceiling
Restaurant Body Warns Of Foodpanda Boycott
- Escalating hidden gateway fees and platform charges raise commission deductions to thirty-five percent
- Owners demand immediate halt to unfair penalties caused by delivery fleet delays
- Association threatens full boycott alongside blueprints to deploy proprietary foodtech application
Protesting algorithmic unilateralism, obscure merchant accounting systems, and spiraling ancillary platform levies across foodtech ecosystems, regional culinary businesses in Chittagong have issued an ultimatum against multinational aggregator Foodpanda. The Bangladesh Restaurant Owners Association, Chittagong Metropolitan Chapter, warned of suspending all order processing or enacting a complete platform boycott unless excessive commissions, rider delay penalties, and arbitrary customer refund deductions are immediately revoked. The grievances were unveiled during a press conference held at the Barcode Restaurant in Shulakbahar on 10 October, Saturday, at 11:30 AM.
Association President Md. Imtiaz Uddin Nawshad and General Secretary Manjurul Hoque presented the declarations on behalf of regional restaurateurs. They highlighted that the aggregator initiated operations with an 8 percent base commission, subsequently scaling it to 15 percent. However, hidden deductions—including payment gateway charges, rider wait-time fees, commission VAT, dedicated merchant device fees, and platform internet costs—drive aggregate deductions up to 35 percent. Furthermore, enterprise disbursement pipelines face settlement delays spanning 13 days to three months, tying up merchant working capital.
Business owners clarified they do not oppose digital logistics or culinary tech innovation, but demand audit transparency and equitable operating frameworks. When logistics failures or aggregator riders cause delivery delays leading to order cancellations by consumers, the financial liability is unfairly offloaded onto the restaurant. Platform operators also execute unilateral customer chargebacks and refunds without allowing merchants to verify claims or present operational logs. Citing domestic market competitor Foodi's ability to operate under an integrated 15 percent commission structure, owners condemned Foodpanda's ancillary charging framework.
The association unveiled a six-point charter demanding an all-inclusive 15 percent commission cap, transparent accounting dashboards, full reimbursement for non-merchant cancellations, elimination of delays-related penalties, suspension of unilateral deductions, and a strict seven-day payment disbursement cycle. If the terms remain unresolved, merchants warned they will halt all inbound app processing, expand the boycott nationwide, and launch a localized foodtech delivery platform. The association has formally sought policy interventions from the Bangladesh Competition Commission, the Directorate of National Consumers' Right Protection, and the Ministry of Commerce to curb predatory multi-sided platform practices.
//DBTech/BMO/SMP/BPC//
