The House of Representatives wants the government to investigate whether the home delivery market is being disrupted because catering entrepreneurs from online platforms are not allowed to offer a lower price on their own website. KHN sees this research as a major boost for many catering entrepreneurs and an important step towards a fairer delivery market.
The SP and PvdA submitted a motion that was adopted in the House of Representatives on 6 March 2018.
Important step for a level playing field in the delivery market
In the motion, the parties indicate that they fear that the dominant market position of some online platforms, in combination with a unilateral increase in commissions, could have a negative effect on both catering businesses and consumers. They therefore want to investigate further whether requirements such as the lowest price guarantee have a disruptive effect on the market (read the motion here).
Pizza promotion KHN
KHN sees this motion as the prelude to a further discussion about the need for reform of the legislation on search, book and delivery sites. This discussion was started last year by catering entrepreneurs and KHN. In December we handed over a symbolic pizza to MPs to argue for a ban on the parity discussion and the sharing of customer data by platforms with catering entrepreneurs. We also spoke to State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Mona Keijzer, about the consequences of the lack of market forces for restaurants, meal delivery companies and hoteliers, among others. In that conversation, we insisted that the unreasonable demands made by search and book sites should also be included in the investigation.