General Administration of Market Supervision: Administrative Penalties on Meituan’s Monopolistic Acts Implemented by Meituan

On October 8, according to the State Administration for Market Regulation, 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.

According to investigations, since 2018, Meituan has abused its dominant position in the service market of online catering food delivery platforms in China.RealityImpose differential rates and delay merchants’ launchAnd other methods to urge merchants on the platform to sign an exclusive cooperation agreement with them, and passCollect exclusive cooperation deposits and technical means such as data and algorithms, To adopt a variety of punitive measures to ensure the implementation of “choose one out of two” behaviors, eliminate and restrict relevant market competition, hinder the free flow of market resource elements, weaken the platform’s innovation power and development vitality, and damage the legality of merchants and consumers on the platform Rights and interests constitute an abuse of market dominance that “without justified reasons, restricting the counterparty of transactions to transactions with them” is prohibited in Article 17, paragraph 1 (4) of the Anti-Monopoly Law.

According to the provisions of Article 47 and Article 49 of the Anti-Monopoly Law, the State Administration of Market Supervision made an administrative penalty decision in accordance with the law, taking into account the nature, extent and duration of Meituan’s illegal activities.Meituan was ordered 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, the “Administrative Guidance” was issued 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-inspection and compliance report to ensure that rectification is in place and achieve healthy and sustainable development of standardized innovation.

(Source: Dahe Finance Cube)

Article source: Dahe Finance Cube

Editor in charge: DF062

Original Title: General Administration of Market Supervision: Administrative Penalties on Meituan’s “Two-Choose-One” Monopoly Act According to Law