FOOD delivery giant Meituan said it will cut commissions for some small and medium-sized merchants, two weeks after government guidelines asked food delivery platforms to lower fees for restaurants in pandemic-hit regions.

Beijing-based Meituan will cut 50 percent of the technical service fee for small and medium-sized merchants in pandemic-affected areas whose daily average user transaction volume has dropped by more than 30 percent.

It will also cap the technical service fee for each order at 1 yuan (US$0.16) after the discount, according to a company statement issued late Tuesday.

Meituan has been grappling with regulatory and public scrutiny on multiple fronts, including the welfare of delivery riders and the size of commissions it charges restaurants, though the company has said its margins on takeouts are slim.

Meituan will keep the lower fees until one month after the designation of the areas as medium and high risk is lifted.

For merchants who face business difficulties in other regions, it will cap the technical service fee at 5 percent until the end of December. The company will also offer free services for some small restaurants to boost their capability to run online shops.

Since last May, Meituan has rolled out pilot reforms to make its fees more transparent and so far the program has covered 70 percent of the merchants on the platform. (SD-Agencies)