A Competition Commission probe has found that food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy indulged in unfair business practices, including alleged preferential treatment to some restaurant partners, according to sources.

Exclusivity arrangements between Swiggy, Zomato and their respective restaurant partners 'prevent the market from becoming more competitive' the CCI's investigation arm noted, says the report

CCI’s investigation revealed Swiggy threatened partner restaurants that “their rankings will be pushed down if they do not maintain price parity”

Over recent years, Swiggy and Zomato have transformed India's food delivery landscape, with hundreds of thousands of restaurants listing on their platforms amid a surge in smartphone use

Sagar Daryani, President of NRAI said, “NRAI has been consistently raising the issue of anti-competitive and predatory practices of the food delivery aggregators for last few years and today, we are glad to read in the news that supposedly CCI has found some merits in our contention.

The NRAI argues that the platforms’ “exclusivity” agreements—where restaurants are required to list exclusively on one platform—are detrimental to fair competition. In a

Zomato entered into "exclusivity contracts" with partners in return for lower commissions, while Swiggy guaranteed business growth to certain players if they listed exclusively on its platform, according to non-public documents prepared by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

An investigation by India's antitrust body found food delivery giants Zomato and SoftBank-backed Swiggy breached competition laws, with their business practices favouring restaurant chains listed on their platforms,

Swiggy and Zomato are reportedly in breach of competition laws, favouring certain restaurants in the country, says a CCI report.