KARACHI: Restaurant owners in Pakistan’s seaside megapolis of Karachi are boycotting Foodpanda in a protest over what they say are “unethical practices” by the mobile food delivery service which seeks to increase its commission fees.
The All Pakistan Restaurant Association (APRA) announced their protests on Tuesday, accusing the company owned by Berlin-based Delivery Hero SE of increasing commission to “nonviable” levels. From Monday, the protest is going to expand to Islamabad and Lahore.
“Our 250 members have protested over the unfair practices by Foodpanda and boycotted its services from Sept. 15, in the first phase in Karachi. The three-day deadline is ending today. Now our tablets will be closed on Foodpanda in Lahore and Islamabad from Monday,” Ather Chawla, convener of APRA, told Arab News on Thursday.
“They (Foodpanda) are asking for increasing the commission fee from the current 18 percent to 25-35 percent, which is not viable for the business of restaurants whose raw material cost alone is 50 percent,” he said, adding that APRA’s cooperation with Foodpanda has been suspended until the company puts in place “corrective measures.”
Having operations in 50 countries, Foodpanda offers services in 32 Pakistani cities. In Karachi alone, it has some 262 restaurants registered on its platform. A major chunk of the company’s revenue comes from restaurant commissions.
In a letter addressed to the chief executive of Foodpanda, APRA chairman Muhammad Naeem Siddiqui wrote that the company’s managers “blackmail APRA members to increase the commission manifold,” threatening them that their restaurants would be removed from the delivery service’s platform.
Restaurant owners also say Foodpanda is deviating from its original Vendor Delivery concept.
“The original model was that they only book orders through their portal and we would deliver food. Later they also came up with delivery options and now they are forcing us to abandon our own delivery services,” Chawla said, adding that it would reduce the area of delivery from 10 kilometers to four kilometers.
APRA has also written a complaint to the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCOP), accusing Foodpanda of “anti-competitive business conduct by forcing restaurants to sign exclusive contract with them, limiting them to work with other food delivery companies.”
“First they forced restaurant owners to hike commission and when they refused, they were pressurized to sign exclusivity agreements,” Chawla said.
As in Pakistan many other companies such as CareemEats, Eat Mubarak, and Cheetay offer food delivery services, Chawla sees Foodpanda’s policy as “a bid to monopolize food delivery business.”
Despite repeated attempts by Arab News, Foodpanda chief executive for Pakistan, Nauman Sikandar Mirza, was not available for comment.
Karachi restaurants boycott Foodpanda delivery service over commission policy
https://arab.news/cugxn
Karachi restaurants boycott Foodpanda delivery service over commission policy
- All Pakistan Restaurant Association (APRA) protest in Karachi will expand to Islamabad and Lahore on Monday
- Restaurant owners also accuse the Berlin-based company of attempt to ‘monopolize food delivery business’ in Pakistan
US freezes visa processing for 75 countries, media reports Pakistan included
- State Department announces indefinite pause on immigrant visas starting Jan 21
- Move underscores Trump’s hard-line immigration push despite close Pakistan-US ties
ISLAMABAD: The United States will pause immigrant visa processing for applicants from 75 countries starting Jan. 21, the State Department said on Wednesday, with Fox News and other media outlets reporting that Pakistan is among the countries affected by the indefinite suspension.
The move comes as the Trump administration presses ahead with a broad immigration crackdown, with Pakistan included among the affected countries despite strong ongoing diplomatic engagement between Islamabad and Washington on economic cooperation, regional diplomacy and security matters.
Fox News, citing an internal State Department memo, said US embassies had been instructed to refuse immigrant visas under existing law while Washington reassesses screening and vetting procedures. The report said the pause would apply indefinitely and covers countries across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Latin America.
“The State Department will pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates. The freeze will remain active until the US can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people,” the Department of State said in a post on X.
According to Fox News and Pakistan news outlets like Dawn, the list of affected countries includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, Russia, Somalia, Brazil and Thailand, among others.
“The suspension could delay travel, study, and work plans for thousands of Pakistanis who annually seek US visas. Pakistani consulates in the US are expected to provide guidance to affected applicants in the coming days,” Dawn reported.
A State Department spokesman declined comment when Arab News reached out via email to confirm if Pakistan was on the list.
The Department has not publicly released the full list of countries or clarified which visa categories would be affected, nor has it provided a timeline for when processing could resume.
Trump has made immigration enforcement a central pillar of his agenda since returning to office last year, reviving and expanding the use of the “public charge” provision of US immigration law to restrict entry by migrants deemed likely to rely on public benefits.
During his previous term as president, Trump imposed sweeping travel restrictions on several Muslim-majority countries, a policy widely referred to as a “Muslim ban,” which was challenged in US courts before a revised version was upheld by the Supreme Court. That policy was later rescinded under the President Joe Biden administration.
The latest visa freeze marks a renewed hardening of US immigration policy, raising uncertainty for migrants from affected countries as Washington reassesses its screening and vetting procedures.
The freeze on visas comes amid an intensifying crackdown on immigration enforcement by the Trump administration. In Minneapolis last week, a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good, a US citizen, during a federal operation, an incident that has drawn nationwide protests and scrutiny of ICE tactics. Family members and local officials have challenged the federal account of the shooting, even as Department of Homeland Security officials defended the agent’s actions. The case has prompted resignations by federal prosecutors and heightened debate over the conduct of immigration enforcement under the current administration.
