Quick food row: Whose database is it anyway?

If quick-food platforms break competition rules, as restaurants allege, they should be hauled up. But data-driven innovation is welcome. It'll favour consumers and help the market evolve

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That successful online aggregators would loom ever larger over the small suppliers enrolled on their platforms was obvious all along. Equally foreseeable was how this would tilt power equations in favour of any big consumer interface, whose potential role as a market gateway was a big draw for its investors in the first place. Suppliers might be called 'partners,' but it's an uneven partnership. But does it call for antitrust scrutiny? The latest to feel the heat are eateries worried by quickfood delivery services launched by online majors, which they fear will source food from third-party suppliers and even set up their own 'cloud kitchens' (like dark stores), leaving them in the lurch. Quick-food delivery is an offspring of Q-commerce. Its pioneer Zepto came up with a 'cafe app' offering beverages and edibles sent across within 10 minutes. Restaurant food deliverer Swiggy made a similar offer with its Snacc app, while the Zomato-owned Q-com player Blinkit unveiled Bistro to contest this space. Calling these services an "abuse of dominance," the Nation