Zomato Antitrust Probe: Delhi HC Issues Notice To CCI, Company

SUMMARY

The HC bench, led by Justice Sachin Datta, clubbed the plea filed by NRAI against Zomato with a similar petition concerning Swiggy

The HC will now hear both the matters together during its next hearing on April 23

In November last year, CCI internally found both Zomato and rival Swiggy guilty of violating competition laws and limiting market competitiveness by favouring select restaurant partners

The Delhi High Court (HC) has issued a notice to Zomato and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in connection with an ongoing antitrust investigation into the foodtech giant.

As per Livemint, the HC issued the directions while hearing a plea challenging the exclusion of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) from the confidential ring as part of the probe. The NRAI also reportedly urged the HC to review the company’s confidentiality claims.

Introduced in 2022, the confidential ring allows parties to have access to confidential information or documents relating to other parties in a probe to better defend themselves. Subject to certain riders, the confidentiality ring helps regulators dispose of cases fast. Exclusion from the ring limits a petitioner’s ability to mount a defence.

It is pertinent to note that the NRAI was initially included in the ring but was excluded later by the competition watchdog in October 2024.

During the hearing on Monday, Zomato’s counsel reportedly batted for exclusion of the NRAI from the confidential ring, saying that the industry body comprised entities which compete with the foodtech giant.

Subsequently, the HC bench, led by Justice Sachin Datta, clubbed the plea filed by the NRAI against Zomato with a similar petition concerning Swiggy. The HC had also issued a notice in connection with the Swiggy case in November last year.

The HC will now hear both the matters together during its next hearing on April 23.

The development came on the same day when the CCI ruled that platform fees and delivery charges levied by Zomato do not amount to abuse of dominant position.

Zomato Vs CCI

The latest development comes five months after a report claimed that the competition watchdog had internally found both Zomato and rival Swiggy guilty of violating competition laws and limiting market competitiveness by favouring select restaurant partners.

The CCI’s antitrust order came after a nearly two-year long investigation into the two companies, following a complaint filed by NRAI in 2021.

In its complaint, the industry body had alleged that the foodtech platforms engaged in anticompetitive practices such as deep-discounting tactics, bundling of services, exorbitant commissions, delayed payment cycle and imposition of one-sided clauses.

Prior to this in April 2024, the watchdog had allowed the NRAI limited access to the antitrust report as part of the confidential ring. Subsequently, both Zomato and Swiggy challenged the CCI’s directive in the Karnataka High Court (HC), arguing that these disclosures, even under confidentiality safeguards, could cause “irreparable commercial harm” to the two companies.

Thereafter, in June 2024, the Karnataka HC directed the watchdog to revisit its decision, which paved the way for the October 2024 order excluding the NRAI from the confidentiality ring. This prompted the restaurant body to move the Delhi HC.

Earlier this year, the NRAI was also mulling legal action agai