SINGAPORE: Singapore’s Competition and Consumer Commission (CCS) has issued a formal warning to food delivery platform foodpanda for allegedly misleading advertising in its recent pandapro membership promotion.
The campaign, which ran from July 1 to Sept 30 this year, was found to misrepresent the benefits of the membership plan.
foodpanda promoted pandapro extensively via social media, outdoor billboards, and signboards, claiming that members could enjoy unlimited free delivery from all restaurants.
However, a complaint filed in August prompted the CCS to investigate, uncovering discrepancies between the advertisements and the actual terms of the offer.
According to the CCS, the advertisements failed to clarify that pandapro members were entitled only to a $3 delivery discount across all restaurants or up to a $6 discount at select establishments.
The investigation revealed that over 40% of transactions made by pandapro members during the promotional period still incurred a remaining delivery fee even after applying the discount.
In response to the findings, foodpanda agreed to implement corrective measures.
These include issuing full refunds to customers who subscribed to the pandapro plan during the promotion, clearly communicating the membership conditions to customers, and ensuring compliance with fair trading regulations in all future advertisements.
The CCS emphasized that while only a warning has been issued this time, repeated offences could result in stricter enforcement actions.
A foodpanda spokesperson has expressed the company’s commitment to improving transparency and ensuring all promotional campaigns provide clear and accurate information.
