Chandigarh7 march 2025: Indian consumer products distributors have now filed an antitrust case against quick commerce firms like Zomato, Swiggy, and Zepto, citing their alleged deep discounting practices.
The case, filed by the All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF) with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) comes at a time when the quick commerce sector is facing intense scrutiny over the pricing of products, according to a report by news agency Reuters.
“An alarming trend of predatory pricing and deep discounting practices by Q-commerce platforms resulted in unfair pricing models,” the report quoted the group’s filing (which is not public) as saying.
It had said in its filing that local brick-and-mortar stores “cannot match” the quick commerce giants’ discounts. It had also compared the online and offline pricing of 25 products, including of Nestle and Hindustan Unilever.
For example, a variant of a Nescafe coffee jar which a small independent Indian retailer receives from companies for about 622 rupees is offered for 514 rupees on Zepto, 577 rupees on Swiggy Instamart and 625 rupees on Blinkit, according to the report.
Summary: Zomato, Swiggy, and Zepto are under investigation in an antitrust case for offering deep discounts, raising concerns about unfair competition practices.