Chile’s competition authority has initiated enforcement proceedings against the food delivery platform Delivery Hero’s local subsidiary, alleging that the company failed to comply with commitments contained in a previously approved settlement designed to safeguard competition in digital food delivery markets.
On 11 March 2026, the Fiscalía Nacional Económica (FNE) filed a formal request before the Tribunal de Defensa de la Libre Competencia (TDLC) seeking the imposition of a fine of approximately US$3.8 million against Delivery Hero E-Commerce Chile SpA, which operates the delivery platform PedidosYa in Chile. The authority alleges that the company breached the terms of Extrajudicial Agreement No. 30, a settlement approved by the TDLC in December 2023.
According to the FNE, the alleged non-compliance stems from the introduction on the PedidosYa platform of a label displayed to consumers as “Mismo precio que en local” (“Same price as in store”). Restaurants affiliated with the platform could activate this tag on their listings. The authority argues that the feature effectively limited restaurants’ freedom to offer lower prices through their own sales channels, whether through in-store purchases or their own delivery systems.
The competition authority considers that the tag operates in practice as a form of price-parity obligation, commonly known as a most-favoured-nation clause. Under the commitments contained in Extrajudicial Agreement No. 30, such clauses were expressly prohibited. The agreement required PedidosYa to eliminate any contractual or commercial provisions preventing affiliated restaurants from offering their products at lower prices on other platforms or through their own distribution channels.
In its filing, the FNE requested that the TDLC impose a fine of 4,046 Annual Tax Units (Unidades Tributarias Anuales), equivalent to roughly US$3.8 million. The authority indicated that the proposed penalty reflects several factors, including the seriousness of the conduct, the deterrent effect required from the sanction, and the economic capacity of the company involved.
FNE head Jorge Grunberg point out the importance of ensuring that settlements approved by the competition tribunal are respected. He stated that extrajudicial agreements are concluded with the expectation that their commitments will be fully implemented and that the authority will continue to monitor compliance closely. According to Grunberg, such agreements constitute an efficient mechanism for protecting competition by securing commitments from investigated companies to cease or modify conduct, subject to approval by the TDLC.
The settlement at the center of the dispute was concluded in November 2023 between the FNE and PedidosYa and subsequently approved by the TDLC. It brought to an end an investigation into vertical restrictions allegedly imposed by several food delivery platforms in their contractual arrangements with partner restaurants. As part of the agreement, PedidosYa undertook commitments including the removal of any clauses or commercial conditions that limited restaurants’ ability to offer lower prices outside the platform. The company also committed not to introduce such most-favoured-nation or price-parity obligations in the future.
The TDLC will now determine whether PedidosYa’s conduct constitutes a breach of the settlement and, if so, whether the requested financial penalty is appropriate. The outcome of the proceedings is likely to be closely watched as a test of the enforceability of competition settlements in digital platform markets.