Foodpanda to raise service fees by NT$2-6 per order in Taiwan

Foodpanda, one of Taiwan’s two largest food delivery services, said Tuesday it would raise its service fees by NT$2-6 (US$0.06-0.18) per order over the coming weeks.

In a statement, Foodpanda said service fees for regular users would rise by NT$4-6 per order starting Nov. 15.

For members of Pandapro, its monthly subscription program, service fees will increase by NT$2-4 starting Dec. 1, the company said.

A Foodpanda courier rides a scooter in Taipei in an undated photograph.

Photo: Chiu Chiao-jen, Taipei Times

According to Foodpanda, revenue from service fees is primarily used to maintain system stability, support daily operations and ensure transaction security.

The fee increases come months after Taiwan’s Delivery Workers’ Rights Protection and Delivery Platform Management Act took effect on July 21.

In early August, a Foodpanda representative told CNA that the new law had increased the company’s operating costs by 32 percent and would likely require changes to its pricing system.

The cost increase was mainly driven by new compensation rules requiring drivers to receive hourly earnings equivalent to at least 1.25 times the statutory minimum wage, as well as a minimum of NT$45 per delivery, the company representative said.

In Tuesday’s statement, Foodpanda said the new compensation rules had also forced the company to change how delivery orders are assigned to drivers, affecting their efficiency and further increasing costs.

The company said it could not fully absorb some of these costs in the long term and therefore had to pass them on to customers through what it described as “moderate” service fee increases.