Ele.me forces its merchants to give up Meituan food delivery platform during Spring Festival

Beijing Evening News said it has received a number of reports from merchants in Beijing, saying that Ele.me pressured them to sign a cooperation contract to give up business on Meituan’s platform during the Spring Festival. Reportedly, Ele.me will offer a 3% discount on its service fee and a lock-in of merchants’ comprehensive ranking if they sign an exclusive contract. If they don’t, their ranking could drop, perhaps even to the bottom.

Ele.me is requiring merchants to sign the contract no later than Feb. 1 and keep their exclusive business on Ele.me at least until Feb. 15, according to different contract periods.

Qiu Baochang, the leader of the legal group of China’s Consumer’s Association, said that what Ele.me did is a suspected violation of the law. (picture via https://lnkd.in/g7pPf4K)