Why the Federal Competition Authority is investigating Foodora

Against the market leader Foodora an investigation was carried out because of this Suspicion of abuse of a dominant market position initiated, as a BWB spokeswoman confirmed to the KURIER. Foodora said it is cooperating fully with the authorities and will carefully examine the results.

Exclusivity agreements

The BWB is particularly concerned about exclusivity agreements between Foodora and large restaurants. Such agreements are not necessarily inadmissible from an antitrust perspective. However, they could become problematic if dominant companies do so Make market access more difficult for competitors or significantly restrict competition, according to the authority.

Foodora, whose market share in Austria according to the BWB is between 50 and 60 percent liegt, is also said to have used discount campaigns to increase exclusive loyalty to catering establishments in Vienna around the market entry of the provider Wolt in May 2023, thereby further increasing the already high barriers to market entry. In any case, data available to the authority shows that the number and extent of such actions increased significantly during this period.

High concentration

Besides Foodora only takes Lieferando with market shares of 40 to 50 percent has a strong position throughout Austria. The market share of Wolt, which has gradually expanded into other cities since 2023, is less than five percent.

For the study, data from large providers and 23 smaller ordering services were queried and 2,500 catering establishments in Vienna listed on the platforms were surveyed.

Important revenue generator

For many restaurants, food delivery is an important source of revenue. The companies surveyed in Vienna stated 25 to 30 percent to generate their sales from online orders via the platforms. It becomes problematic if the market power of individual providers becomes so entrenched that the balance in competition is lost, said BWB boss Natalie Harsdorf: “Increasing dependencies among restaurants can have a negative impact on prices, offerings and working conditions for delivery staff.”

The BWB also complains unilateral contract changes in the industry. There is also criticism of fines and cancellation fees of up to 10 euros for longer preparation times or rejected orders. The BWB also takes offense Best price clauseswhich prohibit restaurants from offering cheaper prices on their own online channels or other platforms. Although there is no evidence of significant competitive effects, the economic necessity must be questioned. Many restaurant operators are also dissatisfied with the communication with the platforms. Around a third complain about the lack of accessibility.

There is a risk of high penalties

If the BWB finds competition violations, Foodora faces fines of up to 10 percent of annual sales. Because this includes the worldwide sales of the parent company Delivery Hero is used, the fines could be up to 1.48 billion euros amount.

Criticism of working conditions

Die Chamber of Labor (AK) criticized the working conditions in the industry: “The competition is being fought on the backs of the messengers,” said AK director Silvia Hruška-Frank. Instead of fixed positions, there are only freelance service contracts.

Life-Trade unionist Markus Petritsch called for rapid implementation EU Platform Work Directive into national law. Petritsch: Then the companies would have to prove that someone really works independently.