Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has received eight complaints against Deliveroo following the food delivery platform’s announcement that it will cease operations in the city next month.
The Consumer Council said in an email to reporters that as of 5pm on Wednesday, the watchdog had seen eight complaints about Deliveroo involving transactions with a total worth of HK$2,868. The highest amount in a single complaint was HK$534.
Deliveroo announced on Monday that it would pull out of the Hong Kong market. The London-based company said it had nominated liquidators and April 7 would be the last day for accepting orders.
The Hong Kong market accounted for 5 per cent of Deliveroo’s global transactions, it said. In a separate statement, Deliveroo said it would sell some of its assets to Singaporean food delivery platform foodpanda.
Since the Monday announcement, customers have been leaving comments on Deliveroo’s Facebook page, asking how unused Deliveroo cash vouchers and membership plans will be handled. The company has limited comments on its recent Instagram posts and also set its Threads profile to private.
In its email to Deliveroo members about the platform’s departure, the company wrote that outstanding gift cards and unused credit can be used before 3pm on April 7.
Deliveroo launched its business in Hong Kong in 2015, about a year after foodpanda entered the local market. Another rival, UberEATS, arrived in the city in 2016 but withdrew at the end of 2021.
In May 2023, KeeTa – owned by mainland Chinese shopping platform Meituan – expanded to Hong Kong and quickly captured the market.
According to data provider Measurable AI’s report in May 2024, KeeTa accounted for 43 per cent of the food delivery market by order in the first quarter of last year, compared with foodpanda’s 37 per cent and Deliveroo’s 20 per cent.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) said on Wednesday that it had begun a “compliance check” against Deliveroo to ensure that the personal data of customers and delivery riders would be handled appropriately.
“The compliance check has been commenced to ensure that the personal data concerned would not be misused, leaked or fall into the hands of fraudsters for fraudulent activities,” it said in a statement.
