Karachi restaurants suspend delivery through Foodpanda

KARACHI: Citing “unfair practices” as reasons, the All Pakistan Restaurant Association (APRA) has announced suspension of business with mobile food delivery marketplace Foodpanda in Karachi.

Earlier on Monday, APRA Chairman Muhammad Naeem Siddiqui had written a letter to the Foodpanda CEO, apprising the latter of members’ grievances and concerns, pointing out that Foodpanda “repeatedly pressed for an increase in commission and made some important demands”.

The letter warned if unfair practices do not stop, APRA would consider stopping working with the company on a permanent basis, starting from 15 Sept.

“Vendor delivery is the original concept of Foodpanda and its own delivery was launched as an optional service. Forcing restaurants to close their vendor delivery – which will only increase unemployment but will also disconnect the food outlets with customers – is not acceptable at all. Vendor delivery should remain operational regardless of the size of the brand,” said the letter.

Speaking to Profit, a small restaurant owner registered on the application complained about how his restaurant has to suffer due to problems with delivery. Third-party delivery does not keep riders involved or connected to the business. Moreover, the owner complained of how smaller owners suffer greater than larger chains that can afford this cut in margins.

The APRA chairman said that a majority of members are being pressurized to increase commissions but it is impossible to pay 25-35pc commissions for aggregation services. It is especially difficult for new entrants, as their startup costs get drastically higher. “We need to ensure that there is a cap on commission that Foodpanda may charge,” said Siddiqui.

“Foodpanda managers blackmail APRA members to increase the commission from 18 percent to 25 percent; otherwise, their brands would be shut from the portal. This is the most unethical way of extorting pressure on any member to accept Foodpanda’s terms & conditions and it needs to be stopped immediately,” Siddiqui said in the letter.

The APRA president said, “Our members have also complained that Foodpanda asks them to work with restaurants exclusively, which falls under anti-competitive business conduct and can be challenged in Competition Commission of Pakistan.”

Competition in the form of CareemEats, Eat Mubarak, EatOye and Cheetay exist.

He said that the restaurant industry is already hit hard by Covid-19 lockdown and now is the time when it needs maximum support from stakeholders. “We did raise similar concerns earlier but there has been no permanent solution from the high-ups, which has led us to announce suspension of services by all our members,” he said.

Siddiqui warned that all APRA members will be closing their tablets from 15th September onwards initially in Karachi and if no resolution is achieved, they will be left with no option but to close the Foodpanda services permanently nationwide.

Following the letter, various restaurants have taken to their social media and spread awareness about the boycott and how their valuable customers can order from them directly.

Ariba Shahid
Ariba Shahid
The author is a business journalist at Profit. She can be reached at [email protected] or at twitter.com/AribaShahid

38 COMMENTS

  1. Food panda qadam barhaO Hum tumhare sath hain ….

    ye Resturants wale haram khor apni marzi ke rules chahtay hain ke jiska or jab chaha order accept kiya or jab chaha cancle kardiya … ye international rules follow nahi karna chahtay sab chor hain

    Food Panda Zinda bad … Pakistan Painda Bad

    • Food panda kya ghar se deta hay order ye badmashi kr raha hay monopoly kisi ki nahi honi chaiye
      warna wo badmash ban jata hay

    • We all talking about fp and resturant owner, no one is talking about end user. Both the parties are earning from customers but none of them is caring about their valuable customers. At the end all the consequences will be face by the customers.

    • Bro, you sre saying restaurants are wrong, these fucking food panda are charging 30-40% commission from resturant.

      Where di you think resturant will earn from , resturant have to increase rates and at the end consumer(customer) have to suffer.

      Food panda have to stop this monopoly

      APRA – YOU GO AHEAD WE WILL SUPORT YOU @RESTAURANT OF ISLAMABAD

      And APRA pls note that food panda is already charging 30-40% commission and weekly fix so called device charges and this commission has been dine by blackmailing and false commitiment

      #BanFoodPanda

  2. Bhetar hai sab ko mil kar solution nikalna chayaiy ta kai sab ki rozi achy sai chalaiy specifically riders who make hards efforts to deliver foods in all weather conditions

  3. I have been getting food through Food panda for a long time with NO COMPLAIN.
    Yet I do not know what is going on behind the scene.

      • No, he’s not in a deep sleep. Apparently, you seem to be.

        This is the unfortunate reality of our nation. We do not appreciate facilities and good services. And therefore, these services shut down.
        Food panda has been offering very cheap food to end customer, and its made it so easy to have food from various places delivered to your doorstep. During the peak of the pandemic when no restaurants were open, Food Panda played a vital role in keeping restaurants afloat, and also keeping the end customer satisfied. Really hard to understand why food panda has become an antagonist all of a sudden.

        All these restaurant owners have been proven to practice hypocrisy and corruption. When the tax rate was reduced to 7.5%, they raised their prices, and matched whatever prices they were charging previously at 17.5% tax. That clearly shows you that there was some theft of taxes going on before, since they didn’t wanna lose the money they were previously making.

        If Food Panda is asking for a raise in comission, its probably because they too are a business, and they need to survive as well in this crazy economy. No body seems to think of them as a business entity, but rather as a servant/ghulam of the restaurants and customers.

        Don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes.

  4. It is not fair to boycott any firm or company on the base or name of profit or loss we should find another way to solve the problem

    • food panda are charging 30-40% commission from resturant.

      Brother we had already tried to talk but they are no where to negotiate

      APRA – YOU GO AHEAD WE WILL SUPORT YOU @RESTAURANT OF ISLAMABAD

      And APRA pls note that food panda is already charging 30-40% commission and weekly fix so called device charges and this commission has been dine by blackmailing and false commitiment

      #BanFoodPanda

  5. I’m having difficulties in ordering food through app. I am using food panda app for the last one year. Now whenever I try to order, a message pops up, telling me, ” you cannot order as your phone is on another email “. I tried to call there helpline, with my call not going through. Later I came to know that their helpline is closed since last six months.
    It is better we order directly from source.

    • Foodpanda is charging commission @35 % on home made food which has made home made kitchen very difficult to run their business.
      Government should look into this matter that how foodpanda is making unjustified profits from homes who runs their small kitchen
      and already on little profit as 35,% profit is deducted by foodpanda.

  6. Restaurants would have take losses if their Delivery window us closed to Customers. Food Panda may die if cartel of Restaurants stop doing business with it. Dialogue is needed. Restaurants are also alerted that as a gang they cannot punish a single service outfit. That constitutes illegal Monopoly and unethical coercion.

  7. I think its fair. Lahore restaurants should also follow the lead. they messed up order deliveries so many times that restaurant managers had to call me and apologized on their behalf.when I tried to complain about food panda they blacklisted me without reverting MY refund.its been over an year when I stop using foodpanda and now I get food in time without any mishaps directly from restaurants. So many restaurants had already suspend their services from them . their website is now full of trash/junk food. Good job Karachi, I hope Lahore does it as well

  8. I think its fair. Lahore restaurants should also follow the lead. they messed up order deliveries so many times that restaurant managers had to call me and apologized on their behalf.when I tried to complain about food panda they blacklisted me without reverting MY refund.its been over an year when I stop using foodpanda and now I get food in time without any mishaps directly from restaurants. So many restaurants had already suspend their services from them . their website is now full of trash/junk food.

    • Nobody cared when foodpanda was delivering a cold and messed up meals, late pickups , always lame excuses for late delivery,

  9. I noticed FP is unfairly charging small restaurants much more than their agreed commission and this will result is directly cheating their customers. There are small restaurants without online menu and for each FP online order, customers blindly trust their advertised prices.

    FP is ok for ordering from big names like KFC, Pizza hut, BK, etc and most of their online customers would know a rough price range. For small restaurants and shops, customers fully rely on FB prices and until and unless customer happen to visit that restaurant by chance, there is no way knowing the real prices.

    To me this is big cheating by Food Panda.

  10. Actually as per desi norm … Jehan zara izzat or taraqi milli nahi or company ya bandey ka dimagh kharab howa !!! … But its my personal experience being rider of both Panda, Bykea, Uber & Careem
    that Food Panda is really Selfish & Cruel co.
    .
    They not bad with vendor but also don’t care for their riders problems , infact always try to find reasons to loot their “hard earned money”
    .
    They don’t even offer life insurance , mobile insurance & many other perks like Bykea & Careem do offering to their riders
    .
    Even No Suggestion or Complain Department for Riders problems (who are backbone of company)

    • I am many of FP customers are generally give extra tips to poor riders but im sure FP is proving to be another seeth owned greed unlimited mentality, nothing else!!

  11. Ghar ka pakka hua khao aur zindagi assan banao. ye sab meel kar 150% profit bana rahay hain. app ko kia khila rahay hain , konsa oil use kartay hain , konsi chiken dltay hai. sab dohka chal raha hai apni cost kam karo aur profit ratio high rakho. pakay huay say kuch nahi prove karsaktay. Allah hum sab ko samjh dey. Ameen

  12. Bilkul sahi faisla hay hum log ju bhi restaurant owner hay khas toar par new restaurant waly jin say food panda 31% say 40% tak bhi lay raha hay wo log almost loss mea ja rahy food panda agar hum logo k sath mil k kam karna chahta hay to usay apna percentage kam karna chahye taky sub log mil k kam kar saky ham mea say kisi ki food panda say problem nahi hay but is ka commission buhat ziyada hay ju k sahi nahi hay buhat sary Vendor ku to yea khud discount bhi nahi daita or Vendor khud sara nuqsan jhailta hay customer ku hamari problem samjh nahi aye gi magar hum log aik dosray ki problem samjh sakty hay or kal say mea apny resturant la tablet close kardu gi

  13. I am just thinking about the poor and needy riders.you know many people are from good families but thay have to do this delivery job because thay had no job for last six months because of lockdown.please pity on them and sit on the table and resolve all the matters.
    Thanks

  14. Agar khana ghar par pakanay ki adat mutakil apna li jaey to resturants ya foodpanda ki jaybeyn hamari kamaee say na bhareyn.

  15. Food Panda are blackmailers, they just feed off at insecurities of startup restaurants. Their commissions are way too high for restaurants to manage.

  16. Food panda na rider per order commission Kam Kar dia ha phala rider ko per order 52 ruppes or 55 ruppes per order malty that ab food panda na ya commission Kam Kar dia ha rider ko 33;37 42 ya 50 ruppes malty Jo bhot Kam ha petrol 105 lt ha please rider ka liya bhi kuch sochain wo bhi insane ha

  17. Aur aik num ki chor company hai awam ko chutiya banati hai inko ye nai pata company ki jaan riders hai aur riders hai to company chal rhi hai riders nai hnge to khana inka baap ponchayega logo k gharo mai aur yai company riders k paise bina koi waja kaat leti hai usko bina koi waja uski koi bt sune usko offboard kr deti hai ye knsi rozi ka zariya hai aik mahina kaam deti hai dusre mahine bina koi waja btaye offboard kr deti hai jo paise haftay k bante hain woh bhi pure nai milte riders ko kuch kaho to aage se dhamki mai jawab milta hai agr ap ne kuch kia aur kaha to apko offboard kr denge office jao to wahn se koi jawab nai deta zalil kr k bahir nikala jata hai ye to riders ki izzat hai yaad rakhe ye company rozi dene wala ALLAH HAI aur koi nai aur jo band bhi is company mai haq mai hai woh dunya ka sab se bara chutiya insan hai woh khud gareeb ka haq marta hoga jb hi is company k haq mai bolega.

  18. For home chef fp commission must be 25%, otherwise we all going to closed our restaurants. We may consider WP or Facebook page to continue our business. It is simple to take order from it. Further if we have more expertise make our webside ourself.

  19. I was a small restaraunt owner at a food court in a mall. Food panda in the middle of the agreement stopped working with us. It was after several emails and calls they replied that the profitability wasnt too high. 3 and a half months were left before finishing of contact.

  20. The worst kind of experience that food panda riders have no manners or training how to park their bikes while they deliver the food they park their bikes in front of the gate regardless of the consequences what the other person will be facing and when one you tell them they starts lying and misbehaving, causing problems for others I wish that somebody could tackle this situation too .
    Plus i don’t use food panda but as mostly people do use this terrible service i face such kind of situation

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