CADE said there is no evidence the food delivery platform holds a dominant market position in São Paulo.
Brazil’s antitrust authority CADE has closed an administrative investigation into food delivery service 99Food, owned by China’s DiDi, which had been accused of breaching competition rules, according to a decision published on June 25.
The probe was triggered by a complaint from rival platform Keeta, owned by China’s Meituan, which alleged that 99Food imposed exclusivity clauses on partner restaurants, preventing them from working with competing delivery apps.
CADE said 99Food’s market share in São Paulo does not exceed 20%, concluding that the company does not hold a dominant position and that there is insufficient basis to allege abuse of market power or antitrust violations.
“Given the market share identified, there is no strong indication that 99Food has sufficient market power to unilaterally alter competitive conditions in the relevant market,”
the regulator said.
The authority also noted that iFood remains the market leader, while 99Food is a relatively new and smaller player.
Keeta criticized the decision, arguing it was issued on the final working day of CADE’s General Superintendent and effectively pre-empted review by the agency’s tribunal. The company said the case is not over, as an appeal is still pending.
Keeta Brazil vice president Danilo Mansano said the company was confident that the CADE Tribunal would give due attention to the case and ensure a food delivery market free of anti-competitive restrictions for the benefit of the entire ecosystem.
As Keeta pointed out, the clauses in 99Food’s contracts that restrict restaurants’ right to choose their own delivery platforms and prevent new players from entering the market “demonstrate their sole and obvious anticompetitive purpose.”
Source: Poder360
