The new document introduces unified requirements for pricing, courier management and partner oversight aimed at addressing systemic problems in the industry.
China has released a new national standard aimed at sector-wide issues in the food-delivery industry — including “ghost kitchens,” coercive discounting and inadequate protections for couriers — by setting out comprehensive requirements for platform operations, including pricing behaviors, merchant oversight and labor rights.
The Basic Requirements for Service Management of Food Delivery Platforms, issued on Dec. 2 by the National Technical Committee for Platform Economy Governance Standards, marks the committee’s first national standard and was developed under the supervision of the State Administration for Market Regulation, or SAMR. The regulator officially announced its release on Dec. 4.
The standard builds on the Aug. 29 launch of the platform-economy governance committee in Beijing, where senior SAMR officials called for standardization to enhance platform governance and support the sector’s transition from rapid growth to quality-focused development.
It outlines detailed requirements for platforms across key areas, including merchant management, pricing and promotion practices, courier and consumer protections, and dispute resolution. The initiative was developed after a series of regulatory meetings earlier this year, during which SAMR raised concerns about excessive subsidies, opaque pricing structures and insufficient protection for delivery workers.
In terms of pricing, the standard prohibits shifting the costs of platform-run discounts onto merchants or couriers. It also requires platforms to notify merchants at least seven days before launching promotional campaigns, and bars penalizing those who opt out — for example, by limiting their visibility in search results or traffic allocation.
The rules emphasize transparency and non-discrimination, requiring platforms to apply promotional policies equally to merchants under similar transaction conditions.
For consumers, platforms must ensure equal treatment under equivalent transaction conditions. The standard prohibits the use of algorithms or Big-Data profiling to apply discriminatory practices in promotions based on purchasing power, preferences or usage patterns. It also requires that benefits such as randomly distributed coupons or vouchers offer equal opportunity to consumers.
The standard also bans platforms from forcing or coercing merchants to sign “lowest-price” agreements, or otherwise interfering — directly or indirectly — with how merchants set or adjust their promotional pricing.
Couriers, long at the center of labor rights concerns, are granted enhanced protections under the new framework. Platforms must calibrate delivery algorithms to reflect real-world conditions such as traffic and weather, and may not penalize couriers for delays caused by factors beyond their control, such as restaurant delays.
Finally, platforms should establish multi-party grievance mechanisms accessible to merchants, consumers and delivery personnel, and allow for external oversight by regulators and the public.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, SAMR officials described the standard as a milestone in platform-economy governance and pledged to support its broader adoption across the regulatory system. The Beijing city regulator said it would incorporate the requirements into routine compliance inspections.
Soon after the announcement, all three major food-delivery platforms — Meituan, JD.com and Taobao’s Flash Purchase, previously known as Ele.me — issued identical statements pledging to voluntarily implement the new standard.
As participants in the drafting process, each platform expressed support for the standard’s core principles — fair competition, food safety, quality service and balanced stakeholder protections — and said the requirements would be fully integrated into their operational and service workflows.
Source: MLex
