The State Administration of Market Supervision imposed administrative penalties on Meituan’s “two-choice-one” monopoly in the service market of online catering take-out platforms in China in accordance with the law
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, October 8, 2021. In April 2021, the State Administration for Market Regulation initiated an investigation into Meituan’s abuse of its dominant market position in the online food delivery platform service market in China in accordance with the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People’s Republic of China.
The State Administration of Market Supervision established a task force to promote the investigation and handling of cases in a solid and efficient manner in accordance with the law, conduct extensive investigations and collect evidence, obtain a large amount of evidence materials and conduct comprehensive and in-depth analysis to find out the facts of the case; organize experts to conduct repeated in-depth research and demonstration; repeatedly listen to Meituan’s opinions to ensure Its legal rights; to ensure that the facts of the case are clear, the evidence is conclusive, the qualitative accuracy is accurate, the handling is appropriate, the procedures are complete, and the procedures are legal.
According to investigations, since 2018, Meituan has abused its dominant position in the service market of online catering take-out platforms in China by implementing differential rates and delaying merchants’ launch, etc., prompting merchants on the platform to sign exclusive cooperation agreements with them, and exclusive cooperation through collections Security deposits, data, algorithms and other technical means, adopt a variety of punitive measures to ensure the implementation of "two-choice-one" behavior, eliminate and restrict relevant market competition, hinder the free flow of market resource elements, weaken the innovation power and development vitality of the platform, and damage The legitimate rights and interests of merchants and consumers on the platform constitute an abusive market that prohibits “no legitimate reason, the counterparty of the transaction can only be traded with,” Article 17, Paragraph 1, Item (4) of the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People’s Republic of China. Dominant behavior.
According to the provisions of Article 47 and Article 49 of the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People’s Republic of China, taking into account the nature, extent and duration of Meituan’s illegal activities, on October 8, 2021, the State Administration of Market Supervision made a law The administrative penalty decision ordered Meituan to stop illegal activities, fully refunded the exclusive cooperation deposit of 1.289 billion yuan, and imposed a fine of 3% of its domestic sales of 114.748 billion yuan in 2020, totaling 3.442 billion yuan.
At the same time, it issued the "Administrative Guidance" to Meituan, requesting it to carry out comprehensive rectification around the improvement of the platform commission fee mechanism and algorithm rules, the maintenance of the legitimate interests of small and medium-sized catering businesses on the platform, and the strengthening of the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of takeaway riders. The State Administration of Supervision shall submit a self-examination and compliance report to ensure that rectification is in place and achieve healthy and sustainable development of standardized innovation.